This Married Life
by anGeL Hinaningyou
Summary: [HitsuHina] :Spoilers: up to the latest manga chapters. There is a theory that goes like so: “some of the best relationships begin with the most unique confessions.”
1. Confessions of a Boy Genius

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THIS MARRIED LIFE

**CHAPTER ONE:** CONFESSIONS OF A BOY GENIUS

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Hi everybody, back with my next one already – was suppose to wait a week but had too much time. LOL, should get a life but… :shrugs: Oh well. And yes, I'm a space cadet – I have weirdo ideas. 

**Main Plot:** How Hitsugaya and Hinamori came to be married and what their married life is like. Set way after the soul society arch but may contain spoilers.

**Spoilers:** Soul Society Arch

**Genre:** Romance/Humour/General/Drama/Whatever my mood is…

**Couples:** HitsuHina with minor IchiRu and some others.

**Rating:** T

**Author's Note:** Most chapters would start with a narrative introduction but it changes to real time after. Characters are OOC at times. All modern things come from Rukia, though it would be mentioned later.

Enjoy!

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own any part of Bleach, anime or manga.

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There is a theory that goes like so: "some of the best relationships begin with the most unique confessions." In the case of Hitsugaya Toshiro and his wife, Momo, this most certainly rang true. So, let's rewind a few hundred years back to when Hitsugaya was just a teenage boy by Soul Society standards and to when Hitsugaya Momo was known as Hinamori Momo. 

But just before we do, let's establish that confessions of love are hard for most people, agreed? But for Hitsugaya Toshiro, it was next to impossible. How was he supposed to maintain his macho stoicism without being turned into Jell-O within the boundaries of love? This was his main concern until one day he decided that enough was enough and he had already gone far too long without her as his.

In light of this new resolution, Hitsugaya set off determined to leave subtle hints of his feelings in hope that Hinamori would be enlightened and hopefully return the same feelings. Little did he know that he was embarking on a wild goose chase by leaving _subtle_ hints that after a while became _not_ so subtle after all…

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_I shall conquer this, I shall._ His forehead creased as his eyebrows strained in from the concentration, one hand wrapped around his upper torso while the other supported his head – portraying him like Rodin's Thinker. His eyes narrowed as he watched her next move. Slowly and hesitantly, she picked up the white Queen and brought it a few steps near the opposing King. 

"Check." She said proudly, eyeing him cautiously. _What is your next move?_ She seemed to be thinking. Hitsugaya looked back to the chess board and stared. _Ah,_ he mentally exclaimed when he found a weakness,_ you will never get past me, Hinamori_. A smug grin appeared on his face as he picked up his King. A look of horror passed on her face as realisation dawned on her. He took out her queen, leaving him with two clear paths to her King.

"Check mate." He declared, he had won the war – and he was still holding the queen in his hands.

"Mou, you always win Hitsugaya-kun!" she stated exasperatedly, slumping into her chair. He grinned smugly at her.

"Of course, I'm not called a genius for nothing you know." Hinamori scoffed at his playful arrogance and smiled.

"For a genius you're quite dense at some things." She retorted. Hitsugaya was baffled and mentally knocked his brain to think of something he was dense at. He gave up.

"Dense about what?" He asked. She smiled harder and shook her head.

"Never mind, Hitsugaya-_taichou_." And she left it at that. Hitsugaya grinned at the use of his title – ignoring how sarcastically she had used it.

"Now that's the kind of respect you should show to your superiors." He informed her approvingly. Hinamori turned and rolled her eyes at him before she left the room. He chuckled at her response then reluctantly settled down at his desk to finish the day's paperwork.

* * *

"_Of course, I'm not called a genius for nothing you know." Hinamori scoffed at his playful arrogance and smiled._

"_For a genius you're quite dense at some things." She retorted. Hitsugaya was baffled and mentally knocked his brain to think of something he was dense at. He gave up._

"_Dense about what?" He asked. She smiled harder and looked incredulously at him._

"_Remember the other day when Matsumoto asked you if you wanted a girlfriend?"_

_Hitsugaya looked weirdly at her, not quite knowing what she was getting at. "Yeah?"_

"_Do you remember your reply?" She asked. Hitsugaya thought for a moment._

"_I said "no, I don't need a girlfriend."" He recalled._

"_Well, I don't like your answer." She told him._

"_Huh?" He was confused, "what's wrong with it?"_

"_It was not what I wanted to hear." She hinted, but Hitsugaya didn't get it. He thought for a moment then looked at her again, clearly baffled._

"_Why not?"_

_Hinamori let out a frustrated sigh and stood up abruptly._

"_You're so dense Hitsugaya, I didn't like your answer because I like you!" She yelled out angrily. Hitsugaya stood there in shock – then it hit him at full force, along with the happiness._

"_Hitsugaya?" She bent down over the chest set and waved a hand in front of him, trying hard not to laugh at the goofy expression frozen on his face._

"_Hitsugaya!"_

"Oi Hitsugaya, Hitsugaya." A voice called to him. He turned away from it and continued to bask in his heaven. But the voice wouldn't let him.

"Hitsugaya!" it called again, this time he was shaken with the call.

Hitsugaya opened his eyes slowly and blinked. _Huh, my room?_ He looked at the person kneeling next to him.

"Hina..mori" he registered as he yawned and sat up sleepily on his futon. _Another dream huh_, he thought sadly, trying to push the disappointment down. Outwardly he remained indifferent.

"What is it Hina" he yawned again, "mori?" he asked, falling back onto the futon again and flipping himself over to lie on his front side.

"I had a nightmare again." She muttered quietly. Hitsugaya's eyes slowly opened and he turned to sit up again.

"Another one?" he asked. Hinamori nodded and looked away. Hitsugaya sighed and moved over, lifting the blanket up for her.

"Climb in" he invited. Hinamori climbed in and turned her back to him, Hitsugaya autonomously turned towards her and placed an arm around her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked. He felt her hesitate for a minute before speaking, her voice a quiver.

"I dreamt that Aizen came back and destroyed Soul Society."

"Baka Hinamori, Aizen is dead. Has been for forty years. He's not coming back."

"I know, but still…"

Silence fell upon them. Hitsugaya was now quite awake but Hinamori began drifting to sleep, comfortable and secure in her surroundings.

"Ne Hitsugaya." She called to him sleepily.

"Yeah?"

"What were you dreaming about? You were smiling so happily in your sleep." Hitsugaya turned red and thanked the world that it was dark.

"I don't remember." He lied.

"Liar." She caught his bluff.

"Shuddup." He threw back, facing away. Hinamori smiled and closed her eyes.

"Must be something perverted." She muttered loud enough for him to hear her clearly.

"What!" He pushed himself up on one side with a hand and glare down at her.

"Now wait a minute, you…" He trailed off as he realised that she had already fallen asleep. He let a deflated sigh out his mouth as he looked at her.

"Baka Hinamori." He muttered as he propped himself on one elbow and leaned on the palm of his hand, watching her sleep. He would do this often – whenever she got scared and came into his room to sleep – he would just stay up all night, mesmerised by her sleeping form. She snuggled further into the pillow causing a strand of hair to fall over her face. A hand spontaneously extended out and swept the stray hair away from her face. He felt a sudden but strong urge to kiss her but he painfully resisted.

Forty years. He had waited for her for forty years and he was still waiting. Actually, he had waited for her longer then that but back then they had been too young. And there was Aizen. But now he was older, wiser and taller and he knew what he definitely wanted.

As he continued watching her sleep, a new resolve formed in him – he was finally done waiting in the shadows. The problem now lied in how to tell her. He didn't want to tell her straight out – that was too embarrassing for him. _I know, I'll leave hints_ he decided, turning over to lie on his back to stare at the ceiling.

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When Hinamori woke up the next morning, Hitsugaya had already left. _Probably already left for his captain meeting_ she figured. She made the bed and adjusted her clothes. There was a gentle knock on the door. 

"Hinamori-fukutaichou." Came a voice outside the door. Hinamori froze. _How did they find out that I'm in Hitsugaya's room_?

"What is it?" She asked, panic building inside her. A muffled conversation began outside causing Hinamori to stare curiously towards the closed door.

"Hinamori-chan" called out Matsumoto. Hinamori allowed herself to breath again.

"Come in, Rangiku-chan" she responded. The door slid open a moment later to reveal the tall, ample-chest shinigami carrying a tray.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing at the tray.

"Your breakfast. Taichou was worried you'd miss breakfast again." Matsumoto replied as she placed the tray on the desk.

"Thank you." Matsumoto winked at her then left the room.

After breakfast, Hinamori departed for her office in the fifth division headquarters. She was surprised to find a single rose on her desk and walked over to it to pick it up. A large smile appeared on her face. _Could it be that Hitsugaya is finally starting to make some moves?_ She giggled happily to herself and held the rose close to her chest. _But I want him to say it – I bet that's what he's trying to avoid._ She thought for a moment then smiled deviously, _I'll just play dense until he has no choice but to voice it out._ With that she patted herself on the back on an idea well done and then settled down to do her work.

After a few hours, Hinamori sighed and leaned back on her seat, tired from all the paperwork. Ichigo, who was now the fifth division captain, hated doing paperwork so he had taken up her offer to do half the division's work. _Oh well, _she thought after a moment, _at least I'm done for now._ She picked up the rose again and got an idea.

A few minutes later she walked into Hitsugaya's office and found him doing some work. His eyes brightened when he saw her but other than from that he retained his stoic indifference. Hinamori, however, was not fooled. She smiled inwardly as she continued walking up to him. His expression faltered a little when he saw that she was holding the rose.

"So, I got a rose today." She started. Hitsugaya played impassive even though his heart was leaping a thousand miles at a time.

"That I can see." He replied coolly, sitting back in his chair with his arms folded.

"Well, there was no card so I can't be completely sure who gave it to me but I do have a pretty good guess." She chirped. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And who might that be?" He asked.

"Well, giving someone a single rose can have many meanings but there are two main interpretations. This helped me eliminate the potential givers until there was only two left." Hitsugaya's heart skipped a beat but he remained impassive outwardly.

"And what were these main interpretations?"

"Hmm, giving someone a rose may mean "I love you" which would mean that someone secretly admires me. On the other hand it may mean "we're friends forever" which means that a very close friend gave them to me." She went into a deeper thought, "or…" she gave Hitsugaya a quick sidelong glance.

"Or what?"

"Or it could be a really good friend who loves me in a romantic way. So, I was thinking, 'who am I really good friends with that would like me in that kind of way?' but I could only think of one person – Kira-kun." She paused for a moment and smiled to herself as Hitsugaya choked on his tea.

"Are you okay, Hitsugaya-kun?" She asked innocently.

"Just fine." He replied, coughing. _Kira! What the hell!_

Hinamori sighed and feigned stress. "But what to do! I don't like Kira-kun that way but I don't want to hurt his feelings. Shiro-chan, what should I do?"

Hitsugaya stared incredulously at her. _Did she really believe that the rose came from Kira!_

"You can't be sure it's from Kira so just don't do anything about it before you embarrass yourself." He advised. Hinamori sighed inwardly but she managed to clap her hands and grin widely at him.

"That's right, I can't be sure it's from Kira-kun. I guess I'll never know who it's from. That's too bad, I would have wanted them to know how sweet it was." She sighed heartily, "thank you, Hitsugaya-kun, you saved me from embarrassment again."

Hitsugaya smiled weakly in return.

After Hinamori left, Hitsugaya pondered on the first failed hint. Why didn't he just tell her that it was from him! _Because you were too scared to._ He answered himself. Hitsugaya sighed. _You're a freaking captain of Gotei-13 damnit! Pull yourself together.

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That night when Hinamori returned to her room to sleep, she noticed a large box on her table. Curious, she moved towards it and opened it – it was a chubby plush bunny. Gasping, she took it out and hugged it. It was so soft!

She placed it to one side then examined the box and found a small note.

"Oi Hinamori,

Stop having nightmares.

Hitsugaya."

She picked the bunny up and hugged it tightly, unable to stop smiling. She looked at the bunny toy again. _Hm, white fur…_

"I shall name you Shiro-chan!"

The next day, Hinamori took the bunny with her to Hitsugaya's office.

"Hitsugaya!" she squealed happily as she flung her arms around him and gave him a quick squeeze before letting go. Hitsugaya felt a surge of disappointment when she let go and brooded –an expression thatwasn't that much different from his usual expression.

"Thank you for my bunny!" she exclaimed as she pulled the bunny into another tight hug. Hitsugaya glared at the bunny, quite jealous of the attention it was receiving from Hinamori.

"I love my Shiro-chan!" she exclaimed happily as she cuddled the plush toy. Hitsugaya's heart skipped a few beats. _She loves _her_ Shiro-chan?_

"What?" he blurted out, eyes widened. Hinamori grinned at him and pointed a finger to the plush toy.

"Shiro-chan, meet Shiro-chan, my bunny hun."

"You named the bunny after me?" He asked. _Damn rabbit._

"Of course, since I always go to you when I'm scared. Now that you have given me this bunny to hold instead, what other name would be more suitable than yours?"

Hitsugaya cringed inwardly. He was being replaced - by a plush toy no less, more over, a plush toy _he_ had given to her himself. He hated that bunny.

Hinamori sighed depressingly.

"What's wrong?" he asked, trying to mask his concern.

"Nothing much, just got a lot of work to do." She replied.

"Bring it here." He offered.

"No way, you have way too much work on your own. Besides, I don't really mind it – it's just boring." She made a face before she left to do her work.

Hitsugaya pondered on his hints – _maybe they need to be more straightforward._ He sighed as he went back to his work. As he was reading through one of the papers, he suddenly got an idea.

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A few days later, Hinamori sat in her office going through reports. She exhaled noisily as she finished one report – one hand placing it on the 'read' pile and the other hand getting another report from the other pile. 

She looked down at the report and her eyes widened when she saw what it was.

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**: RESUME :**

**Name:** Hitsugaya Toshiro

**Career Objective:** A starting position as boyfriend for a certain fifth division vice-captain who always wears her hair in a bun.

**Outstanding Qualities:** Everything, duh.

**Experiences:** Almost two centuries of being best friends with her.

**References:** Matsumoto Rangiku, Obaasan, anyone.

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14 April 2046 

o

Hinamori Momo San

Vice-Captain

5th Division Headquarters

P.O Box 5

Seireitai, Soul Society

o

Dear Hinamori-san,

After many years of waiting and contemplation, I am finally submitting my resume for the position of boyfriend. My forte lies in my feelings for you. I like you. A lot.

If you feel that I am qualified for this position then please contact me, either by letter or personally, so that we could set up an interview.

Yours truly,

Hitsugaya Toshiro

A.k.a Shiro-chan

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Hinamori read the paper over and over again to make sure she was reading correctly.

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Hitsugaya couldn't concentrate. _She would have read the letter by now_, he thought nervously. He had written the letter as a resume for two reasons. The first one was that if she rejected him and didn't return his feelings, he could pass it off as a really over-the-top joke. The second reason was to simply cheer her up and give her a break from the work. 

There was a knock on the door.

"Hitsugaya-taichou." Called out one of his subordinates.

"What is it? Open the door."

"Hai." The shinigami slid open the door.

"You have a letter sir." Hitsugaya's heart stopped.

"Place it on my desk." He ordered, continuing with the paperwork on his desk.

"Yes sir." The subordinate got up and placed it on his desk. Hitsugaya continued on with his work without glancing at it. However, as soon as he heard the door shut and he had checked that he was alone in the room, Hitsugaya quickly picked the piece of paper up and unfolded it.

"Dear Hitsugaya Toshiro,

I have put you under consideration and have arranged an interview with you tonight at 11 pm at the big tree by the lake. Hope you can make it.

Yours sincerely,

Hinamori Momo"

_Eleven_, he looked at the clock, it was only nine thirty. _Two more hours to go, I wonder what she's going to say._ Hitsugaya groaned nervously and tried to finish the remaining paperwork by eleven.

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The water glistened under the moonlight, accenting its every gentle wave and ripple. Hitsugaya sat on the large branch of the tree and stared out at the lake. A twig snapped, startling him out of his reverie. 

"Hitsugaya" a soft and gentle voice called out to him. Hitsugaya froze when he saw Hinamori standing a few feet away from the tree, the reality of the situation hitting him. He took a silent deep breath then leapt off the tree, landing smoothly near its trunk and only just a few steps away from her.

"So" Hinamori started, aiming for casual but achieving breathless.

"I received an interesting letter from you." She continued, her voice smooth and gentle. Hitsugaya remained silent, afraid to speak. Hinamori tilted her head slightly and smiled an unsure smile. She took one step towards him. Hitsugaya didn't move.

"Was it true? Or was it a something you did just to make me less stressed about work?" She asked, her eyes pleading. _Please tell me it was true._

Hitsugaya swallowed hard. He wasn't sure what to do, what did she want him to say, what does she want?

The air surrounding them intensified and became heavier and heavier as the second went by. Hinamori bit her lip, Hitsugaya's silence was disquieting.

"Say something, Hitsugaya!" She demanded as she took another step towards him, then another, and another until she was finally standing right in front of him.

"I…it was…" He hesitated. If she didn't like him then their friendship would be tainted, but if she did… He allowed himself to look at her. Her eyes were wide, staring intently up at him, tears brimming at the bottom. _Why is she about to cry?_

"Yes?" She pushed, she was scared – she couldn't take much more of this tension.

Hitsugaya decided. He looked directly at her.

"It was true. All of it." He answered, observing her closely to see what her reaction was. The tears fell down and a wide smile broke out on her face. She let out a sigh of relief. Hitsugaya watched her, his heart beating a thousand beats per minute. _She's smiling, does that mean that…_ He allowed himself to hope like he never dared to before.

"I want to hear you say it." She asked of him, looking up at him once more.

There was absolute silence for a moment - accenting the sound of insects, the gentle rippling of water and the quiet breath of the wind. Hitsugaya looked down at Hinamori. She was his everything.

"I like you, Momo." He confessed. She stared up at him, searching his eyes for the truth before breaking out into a smile. She threw her arms around him and tip toed, bringing him down to meet her lips in one smooth movement. Hitsugaya's eyes shot open fully. After a moment he relaxed and closed his eyes. He lost himself in her warmth, the soft wetness of her lips, the sweet taste of her mouth. His arms found their way around her small body and he tightened his grip as if he were scared that she would slip away from him. Their kiss deepened and after a while they broke apart for air.

"So" Hitsugaya started breathlessly, "did I get the position?" Hinamori chuckled and pretended to contemplate for a moment.

"Mmmm…" Hitsugaya grew impatient.

"Oi! Hinamori." He prodded. Hinamori laughed.

"I think you are definitely qualified." She teased. At his look she laughed some more.

"There's no one else I'd rather have" she confessed. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. "Because I like you too." A feeling of euphoria overwhelmed the both of them as they looked at each other – it was a new beginning.

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**END OF CHAPTER ONE**

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Hope you enjoyed that. No flames please.

**I love reviews so please do.**


	2. Shinigami Cosmopolitan

**THIS MARRIED LIFE**

**CHAPTER TWO: **SHINIGAMI COSMOPOLITAN

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Thanks to everyone who reviewed! They made me one heck of a happy chappy. 

**Author's Notes:** Got the idea when I was flicking through a Cosmo mag. Ideas are _generalised_ so don't flame me to say that "that so wasn't true", lol. Men, just be amused. XD Anyway, I wrote the first half during a social psych lecture so my mood completely changed in the second half. Oh, in my world, shinigamis have weekends.

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own any part of Bleach, anime or manga. Some titles are taken from Cosmopolitan or Cleo mags.

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Hinamori slumped down on the sofa, bored. 

"What are you doing, Hinamori-chan?" asked Rangiku as she walked into the fifth division headquarters.

"Nothing, I have nothing to do since Hitsugaya took my papers and did them before I even woke up." She replied. She had woken up this morning and gone to her office to find a pile of already finished paperwork with a note sitting on top that read "take a day off."

"What are you doing here, Matsumoto-san?" She asked, realising that the tenth division vice-captain was in the fifth division headquarters. Matsumoto shrugged.

"Taking a break." She answered as she reached into her robes and pulled out a magazine, handing it to Momo.

"What's this?" She asked.

"This month's issue of Shinigami Cosmo. If you're bored you should read it. It has some…interesting things." She winked at Hinamori then left.

Hinamori looked at the cover curiously and blushed – some of the articles in there were just _not_ appropriate for her eyes. But one of the titles caught her eye. _It won't hurt to read it_ she decided, flipping to the page of the article.

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: Is He Really in Love with You? :

So, you think you've got your man wrapped around your little finger?

Any one can say one thing and think on a totally different track. Translating man-speak may be really hard at times but, shinigami or not, you'll find that by observing your man's actions you can find out just how deep his devotion really is. Here are some behavioural clues.

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Hinamori smiled to herself as she decided that since she had so much time off today, she could put it to good use – _why not test out some of these behavioural clues_. She tucked the magazine into her robe and set off to find her unsuspecting snow-haired boyfriend.

* * *

Hitsugaya walked down the hall towards his division headquarters. _Captain meetings are so boring_ he mulled, sighing inwardly. 

"Hitsugaya-kun!" called out a voice. Hitsugaya turned at once to see Hinamori walking happily up to him.

"Want to go have lunch? I'm starving." She smiled when Hitsugaya's stomach growled in response before he could voice it. Hitsugaya smiled weakly and agreed.

When they reached the dining hall, Hinamori couldn't help but smile when Hitsugaya sat next to her. _Behavioural hint number one: this sitting style, as opposed to sitting facing each other, not only reinforces the link, it also pinpoints their natural possessive instinct – conveying to other men to stay (romantically) away._ Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow.

"What are you smiling at?" he asked, looking around for something amusing.

"No, nothing." She replied, shaking her head slightly. He looked at her suspiciously but let it pass.

"Did you sleep well yesterday night?" He asked, autonomously reaching out to pick up a sushi with his chopsticks and settling it on her plate before grabbing one for himself.

Hinamori smiled again at this action. _Behavioural hint number two: It's uncanny how men can sometimes their guard their food by gobbling it down in lightning speed. However, smitten men won't hesitate to share in an autonomous way._ She looked at Hitsugaya and smiled. _Shiro-chan, you're doing pretty well so far._ She thought reflectively. _But we haven't truly tested this hint if we haven't tried it with watermelons._

Hitsugaya noticed Hinamori staring at him and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Oi, Hinamori!" He called out in hope of bringing her back from the fairies.

"Huh?" She snapped out of her reverie. "Err, Oh, yeah. I slept well yesterday." Hitsugaya observed her carefully, reaching out a hand to touch her forehead as if to check whether or not she has a fever.

"Are you okay? You seem a little…distracted." She looked and saw his concerned expression which made her heart flutter.

"I'm fine." She assured him. Hitsugaya didn't buy it for a moment.

* * *

After the meal the two split. Hitsugaya went off to train his squad while Hinamori returned to the fifth division headquarters to perform her vice-captain duties. After her duties, she decided to pursue the third behavioural hint from Hitsugaya and took out the magazine from her robes. 

"Hinamori." Came a voice behind her, startling her.

"Kyaa!" She turned around abruptly.

"What's that?" Hitsugaya asked, pointing at the magazine. Hinamori looked down at the magazine and froze. She quickly snapped out of it when she saw Hitsugaya approaching her and placed it back in her robe.

"It's nothing, just a magazine that Matsumoto-san gave me to read when I'm bored." She replied in a shrill voice and laughed nervously. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow.

"You know, you've been acting weird all today." He eyed the area where the magazine was hidden by her robe. "And if that magazine is from Matsumoto then I bet it has something to do with that."

"What! It's not really, in fact, I haven't been acting weird at all" she declared. Hitsugaya was unmoved.

"Oh?" He asked smoothly as he advanced on her slowly. Every step he took forwards, she moved a step backwards until she was finally caught between Hitsugaya and her desk. Hinamori clutched her robes protectively at her chest. He held a hand out, palms up.

"Don't make me get it off you" he dared. Hinamori shook her head and blushed.

"How are you going to get it off me? You're not going to just reach into my robes and get it…are you?"

Hitsugaya smirked and withdrew his hands, crossing his arms at his chest.

"A challenge then." He moved closer to her and kissed her on the lips.

"Baka, I'm not falling for that." She laughed.

"Oh? Let's see how long you last for then?" He teased, pulling her into his arms once more and capturing her lips. Hitsugaya smiled inwardly when he felt Hinamori's clutch on her robes loosen then eventually move around his neck to bring him closer to her. He kissed her for a moment more before extracting the magazine from her and stepping away. He waved the magazine at her and smirked. Hinamori gawked at him.

"That was cheeky, Shirou-chan!" She scolded, laughing a little when she realised that she actually fell for his trick. Then she abruptly changed to flustered when she realised that he was holding the magazine.

Hitsugaya looked down at the magazine and scanned the cover. A deep blush filled his face.

"What…" He tried to find the words. "What exactly do women read these days!" His eyes were wide. If Hinamori wasn't dying of embarrassment, she would have laughed at his innocence. I mean, she was innocent too but the expression on his face was priceless.

Worse yet, Hitsugaya decided to read them out.

"'How to beat the new-lovemaking shyness', 'what your love dreams are trying to tell you', 'how to copulate in every single room in the house'…" Hitsugaya put down the magazine and swallowed hard. If Hinamori wasn't a tomato before she certainly was one now.

But it was what she heard him say next that turned her into the _epitome_ of embarrassment. Hitsugaya looked at her with _the _expression and blinked a few times before saying bluntly:

"I don't believe in sex before marriage."

THUD. Hinamori crawled under her desk.

"Hinamori?"

"I wasn't reading that, BAKA!" she yelled, though it came out a little muffled due to the desk.

"Hon, come out from under there."

"…"

Hitsugaya sighed and moved to the desk, kneeling down to face her. Hinamori was cuddled at the corner.

"Come out of there, Momo." He requested in a gentle voice. Hinamori shook her head.

"No" she replied stubbornly.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm too embarrassed to come out. It's dark here, I like it."

"It's dark by the lake as well - you want to go there instead? It's not good to be cooped up like that under the desk. At least there you can watch the moon."

Hinamori remained stubborn. "I won't be able to see the moon anyway."

"Why not?"

"Cos there's a dark oppressive cloud above me so it'd block my view." She replied in a childish voice. Hitsugaya chuckled and leaned in until he was just an inch from her face. Then he drew his breath and blew a gush of wind at her.

"What was that for?" She asked, confused.

"See, now the clouds are blown away and you can see the moon." Explained Hitsugaya, proud of his logic. Hinamori stared bewildered at him for a moment then started laughing. He smiled at her laugh.

"Much better, will you come out now?" Hinamori gave a small smile and nodded.

"So, what were you reading?" He asked. Hinamori went over to the floor and picked up the magazine, flicking to the page she was on.

"It was the only thing I dared to read in there." She explained. He looked at the article, _that explains the staring_. He thought as he closed the mag and placed it down on the desk.

"Hinamori" he paused before continuing, "do you have any doubts about how I feel about you?" Hinamori shook her head.

"No."

"Good." An idea occurred to him.

"This coming Saturday" he looked away, a light pink colouring his cheeks, "do you want to have an all day date?"

* * *

**End of Chapter Two**

* * *

**After note:** Urgh :mental note - never write a story when under assessment pressure: I didn't really like this chapter but decided to put it up anyway since it's written... 

Hopefully I'll get the next one up by thursday when I've hopefully finished my assignments.

**I'll give you a cookie for a review** XD Though no refund - my cookies aren't that inedible :P


	3. First Dates

**

* * *

THIS MARRIED LIFE**

**CHAPTER THREE:** First Dates

* * *

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! 

**Author's Notes:** I may alternate spelling Toshiro as Toshirou and Shiro as Shirou at times though both can be correct, well, English-wise it's correct with the 'u' but Japanese wise it can be spelt both ways.

**Houmongi** (訪問着 ; ほうもんぎ): literally translates as _visiting wear_. Characterized by patterns that flow over the shoulders, seams and sleeves, houmongi rank slightly higher than their close relative, the _tsukesage_. _Houmongi_ may be worn by both married and unmarried women; often friends of the bride will wear houmongi at weddings and receptions. They may also be worn to formal parties, such as galas.

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own any part of Bleach, anime or manga. I also don't own Chris Rock – the actor/comedian cos he's a real person, or whatever words that comes out from his mouth.

* * *

"You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war…" 

Matsumoto, Rukia and Hinamori stared blankly at Chris Rock on TV as he talked. A moment later Matsumoto sighed.

"Rukia-san, why do you insist on watching these living world pop-culture things that occurred forty years ago that you know we won't understand on our girl's night in?" She asked exasperatedly.

"There's got to be something amusing about them. Ichigo always laughs when he watches them." Replied Rukia as she picked up the DVD cover and analysed it, brows furrowed in concentration. Matsumoto shrugged and turned her attention on Hinamori.

"So" she began, her voice light and devious, "how are things going with you and captain?" Hinamori blushed. Rukia looked up from the case.

"What's this?" she asked, curious.

"While you and Ichigo were away at the living world, little Hinamori here has been quite busy with my captain, haven't you Hinamori-chan?" She informed her, raising an eyebrow at Hinamori.

"What! Are you two together now?" Rukia asked. Hinamori nodded shyly.

"About damn time!" she exclaimed happily. "How did it happen?"

She told them.

"Aww, that's so sweet, when Ichigo confessed, it was like "I like you. So, what do you think?"" She mocked repeated him.

"I thought that was a pretty damn good confession" a voice protested behind them. The girls turned around.

"Ichigo!" Rukia exclaimed, startled.

"Hitsugaya-kun, Ichigo-san, what are you two doing here?" Hinamori asked. Ichigo sighed.

"No need to be so formal with me, Momo, and even with your own boyfriend! Now, repeat after me "Toshirou, Ichigo"" Hinamori threw a pillow at him and glared. Rukia narrowed her eyes at him.

"Ichigo! What are you doing here? It's Friday night – girl's night in, remember?" She scolded. Ichigo pointed to Hitsugaya.

"Toshiro wanted to know what was going on." He answered bluntly. Hitsugaya froze and felt his back crawl when Hinamori's gaze settled on him.

"What!" He glared at Ichigo, "You were the one who said "let's go spy on them""

"Ichigo, go home." Ichigo let out a deflated sigh at Rukia's command. Hitsugaya snickered.

"Listen to your wife, Ichigo." He teased. His smile disappeared in a flash when he felt Hinamori glaring at him.

"Hitsugaya, don't be like that." Hinamori scolded. This time it was Ichigo who snickered.

"Yeah Toshiro, listen to your girlfriend."

"You know, you two can join us." Suggested Matsumoto. Hinamori and Rukia looked at her. The only reason they didn't invite them to stay was because Rangiku would be left out, besides, the girls night originally started when Gin was executed in order to comfort Matsumoto. Both Ichigo and Hitsugaya knew this point. An idea suddenly occurred to Ichigo.

"Let's see if Kira wants to join."

A moment later the boys returned with Kira, Shuuhei, Ikkaku and Yumichika. Hinamori and Rukia gasped at the extension of their _girl's_ night in. Matsumoto looked amused.

"Wow, two men for each of us, aren't we lucky girls?" She commented with a wink. Hitsugaya and Ichigo threw her a glare and both moved to their respective partners, guarding them protectively.

"Well, since we don't understand any of Ichigo's things, let's all play a game. Mmm, how about 'spin the bottle'?" Matsumoto suggested.

"Hell no!" protested Ichigo as he sat up straight, crossing his arms and shaking his head with a scowl. Hitsugaya, who was sitting next to Ichigo, nudged him and asked what it was about. Ichigo leaned over and whispered his explanation just in case the other men got ideas.

"Everyone sits in a circle with a bottle in the centre, and then someone spins the bottle. Whoever the bottle points to has to kiss or perform some favour to the spinner." Hitsugaya got the image of Hinamori kissing someone else and sat up straight, crossed his arms and shook his head with a scowl.

"No damn way." He retorted. Hinamori and Rukia looked confusedly at Hitsugaya and Ichigo, who were both sitting in the same uptight position. A moment later, they both stood up at the same time.

"As a matter of fact, I'm pulling rank as captain of the fifth squad and commanding you to come home, Kuchiki Rukia!" Before she could protest, Ichigo had dragged her out of the room with him.

"Hinamori, you're coming with me." Hitsugaya ordered in a voice that would brook no refusal.

"H…Hai" she replied, standing up just in time for Hitsugaya to walk past and grab her hand, pulling her out the room with him.

Matsumoto stared at the door where the couples had just exited a second ago and smiled. _Mission accomplished._ She turned back to the group.

"Now that the couples are gone, we can start the game now." She smirked.

Ikkaku suddenly got an idea, "Can we invite Nemu?"

* * *

"You're serious!" Hinamori exclaimed. Hitsugaya nodded. After he had pulled her out of the room, they had decided to spend the rest of the night at their favourite spot – the roof. 

"I'm glad you pulled me out then, what kind of a game is that?" Hinamori was incensed; _if we played that game then he would have…ugh!_ Hitsugaya observed her reaction in an amused manner and smiled to himself, _I know what you are thinking._

Hinamori moved from annoyed to contemplative.

"Umm, Shiro-chan, what happens when the spinner is a boy and the pointed at is a boy, and same with girls, would they still have to kiss each other. I mean, if you spun it and it pointed to Yumichika or Shuuhei or Ichigo…"

Hitsugaya stopped himself from vomiting.

"Stop, please." He pleaded. She laughed at his reaction.

"If we weren't together, and Matsumoto suggested we play that game and you knew you couldn't get me out of the room, would you have played just to have a chance?"

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow and teased her, "chance to what?" She shot him a "don't go down that road" look.

"I would stay, but I would have gotten Hyourinmaru to control the wind." She smiled sweetly at him.

"That would cheating, Shiro-chan" she scolded in mock sterness.

"No it wouldn't, and don't call me Shiro-_chan_" he answered in mock annoyance. Hinamori laughed.

"Oh? Then what should I call you, Shiro-_sama_?" Hitsugaya smiled and nodded approvingly, causing Hinamori to laugh and give him a playful, soft smack on the head.

"Keep dreaming, the day I use 'taichou' or any title of the like on you in a serious manner is the day you should be really worried."

They looked at the moon for a moment before Hinamori broke the silence.

"Think Rangiku-chan is playing the game right now as we speak?" She asked, curious.

"Of course, that kind of thing is just down her lane, baka vice-captain of mine." He scowled disapprovingly. An idea popped into Hinamori's head and she inched closer to Hitsugaya, who looked at her with a "what are you up to now" expression.

Hinamori smiled deviously and inched her face closer to his until it was only a breath away.

"Wanna play?" She asked _innocently_. A small smile played on Hitsugaya's face as he leaned in closer, their lips almost touching, and Hinamori could feel the faint stirring of his breath against her cheek.

"Absolutely." He replied before closing his lips over hers.

* * *

Saturday finally dawned on the couple as they prepared for their all day date. Hinamori yawned and turned in her bed, noticing a small ribboned box situated on her pillow. She smiled and reached to get it, sitting up in the process. She flicked her overflowing hair back over her shoulder and opened the box to reveal a beautiful hair ornament made out of gold and glittering gems – a bun cover to be exact but a beautifully crafted one at that. Hinamori smiled to herself, examining it for a moment longer before getting up to prepare herself. 

After she was ready, Hinamori slid open her main door to find Hitsugaya already there, leaning against the wall. For a moment the two observed each other – trying to get familiar with each being in non-shinigami uniform. Hitsugaya was wearing a navy blue, three-kamon kimono without his zanpakuto at his hip. She had to admit, he looked very good.

A small blush appeared on their faces when they realised they were staring at each other. Hitsugaya looked away.

"You look nice" he complimented, face growing redder. Hinamori smiled broadly at the rare compliment and took his arm.

"Should we go?" She asked. Hitsugaya nodded.

They arrived at the first district of Rukongai and casually strolled the side markets, occasionally buying sweets and varying trinkets.

Hitsugaya's stomach growled. Hinamori looked at him and he smiled widely, rubbing his stomach. Hinamori's eyes widened.

"You're hungry again?" She asked, "but we just ate?"

But Hitsugaya was already looking absentmindedly into the distance.

"Shiro-chan?" Hinamori called out to him, unsure of where he's at.

"Ever thought about revisiting our old house?" he asked distantly before returning his gaze to her.

"Our old house?" She repeated.

The house was still the same as it was all those years ago though more weeds had sprouted and dust had gathered. It seemed lonely and abandoned but emitted a sense of belonging - of home in the two previous owners' hearts.

Hinamori picked a flower and played with it as she approached the porch.

"It's been such a long time but nothing has changed" she commented, taking in every inch of her surroundings until her eyes settled on Hitsugaya. Hinamori chuckled, earning a confused look from him.

"The only thing that has changed is that you're taller than the garden post" she remarked, stifling a laugh at Hitsugaya who was, ironically, leaning on the stone garden post. Hitsugaya noticed this and straightened up, sending Hinamori a glare that caused her to laugh harder. The height difference between now and all those years ago was absurd – Hitsugaya was now around Ichigo's height but just forty years ago, he was even shorter than Hanatarou. _It's strange how we are back here, in the same place we met, but so different than the people we used to be._ Hinamori mused. It was until Hitsugaya walked past her that she snapped out of her thoughts.

"Hitsugaya-kun, where are you going?" She asked.

"To check the watermelon patch" he replied offhandedly. Hinamori rolled her eyes and followed.

Hitsugaya was ecstatic – there were so many watermelons! Hinamori observed Hitsugaya's reaction with a raised eyebrow. _Heh, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. But…his reaction towards watermelons is quite cute._ She thought with adoration.

They settled down on the porch and ate watermelons like they did so long ago – and in the same manner too. Hinamori took small bites out of her first watermelon while Hitsugaya drilled through his twentieth.

"You look so cute when you eat watermelons like that, Shiro-chan" teased Hinamori in an I-adore-you-so-much voice as she reached up to ruffle his hair.

"Don't treat me like a child, and it's Hitsugaya-taichou" he corrected gruffly, his word followed by a torrent of watermelon seeds directed at Hinamori.

Hinamori laughed and deflected the seeds easily with a shield.

"Oi, that's cheating" Hitsugaya scolded.

* * *

"Oi, Hitsugaya! Come on!" called out Hinamori, turning to face the endless ocean and letting the waves wash over her feet. Hitsugaya looked sceptically at the water with a frown. Hinamori walked up to him and dragged him towards the water. Hitsugaya was strong – but the girl had a death grip on him. He managed, however, to stop just at the borders of wave and sand, refusing to go any further. 

"Mou" Hinamori exclaimed exasperatedly, standing knee length in the water and holding the hem of her robe up. An idea occurred to her and she fastened the hem into a knot and drew her sleeves up.

SPLAT! Hitsugaya stood there, stunned, as the water dripped off him. Hinamori tried to stifle her laugh but was unsuccessful. Hitsugaya's stunned expression suddenly changed from stunned to playful vengeance, causing Hinamori to back away slowly. A foot slowly touched the waves, followed by another one until the owner stood knee length in water, staring daringly at his challenger.

SPLASH! Hitsugaya found himself covered once more in water.

"Were you going to stare at me all day?" Hinamori teased playfully then yelped as a torrent of water charged at her. She let out a bout of laughter as she dodged it and bent down to splash him again.

A long while later, Hitsugaya and Hinamori were both soaked but still going as both were unrelenting. By this time the sun was just about to set, casting an orangey glow over the horizon.

"Hitsugaya" Hinamori let out breathlessly, pointing at the building in front of them. Hitsugaya followed her gaze. It was the infamous water top restaurant. The restaurant was relatively new, constructed ten years ago by some elite family, and was the only Western styled fine diner in the whole of Soul Society.

Hinamori sighed. "If only I had something to wear there." She said dreamily as she stared at the luxurious building.

"Yeah" Hitsugaya replied, his gaze also focused on the restaurant.

* * *

The couple decided to go home first to get cleaned up before going out to dinner. Hinamori looked at the time: quarter past six, Hitsugaya was coming at seven thirty which left her about an hour and a half or so to get ready. With that in mind she stepped into the bathroom to take a shower. 

When she came out of the bathroom she let out a loud yelp at the sight that was awaiting her. A beautifully designed houmongi was spread across her bed. Hinamori drew her breath and walked towards it, running her delicate fingers across the soft fabric. She felt something hard hit her fingers and discovered a note. She opened it and was surprised to find it completely blank except for a signed _Hitsugaya_ at the very bottom. Hinamori giggled to herself, _Hitsugaya obviously had some trouble expressing himself.

* * *

_

"So, where are you taking me?" Hinamori asked.

"You'll know when we get there" Hitsugaya replied. Hinamori raised an eyebrow at him with a smile then turned back to face ahead. Hitsugaya observed his surroundings for a moment.

"We turn right here" he said, steering her towards the path on the right. A light breeze passed them, it was light and salty. Hinamori stopped in her path and caught her breath.

"W-Wow" she exclaimed breathlessly. She had never seen the water-top restaurant at night. It seemed so happily situated in it's location. The lights illuminating from it seemed to cast an enchantment on those who saw it, drawing them to it. She turned around to face Hitsugaya.

"Hitsugaya-kun" she breathed. A small smile contoured his lips as he nodded towards the restaurant.

Hinamori's mouth hung slightly open as she marvelled at the interior of the restaurant. She had never seen anything like it in her life – only a representation of what it would be like from the DVDs Ichigo brought back with him. But this was far from a box screen, this was real.

The tables were dressed with cloths and each of them had candles, glasses and five different pieces of silverware per setting. The couple were seated next to a window. Hinamori noticed that the windows were so large that they completely lined the wall so that when you looked through them, you could watch the moonlight reflecting off the slowly moving water.

This was definitely a memorable experience – it felt like something out of a fairytale. Everything was different; the setting, the food, and the customs. For the rest of the night, the couple chatted away about everything and anything. After the meal, they took a stroll on the beach then headed back to Seireitai.

Hitsugaya stopped just right outside Hinamori's room where they chatted for a while longer.

"So, I guess this is goodnight" sighed Hinamori.

"Yeah" replied Hitsugaya. Neither of them moved.

After a moment of silence, Hinamori broke eye contact with Hitsugaya and smiled before going into her room. A second later, there was a knock on her door. She smiled and slid open the door.

"Yes?" She asked with a small laugh.

"Forgot something" Hitsugaya replied before leaning down and giving her a quick but passionate kiss on the lips. He broke away and smiled before turning around and disappearing into the darkness like all captains do.

Hinamori stood there stunned for a moment then smiled. She poked her head out of the door to check if he was really gone, her fingers autonomously tracing her lower lip as if the action would retain the feeling. She thought back on his sudden kiss and she smiled wider as she closed the door.

* * *

On Monday morning, Hinamori walked into her office to find an assortment of roses everywhere. She picked up a bundle and headed to Hitsugaya's office. 

"Toshirou!" She called out as she walked into his office. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow at her.

"Thanks for the flowers" she said, expressing her gratitude with a quick kiss on the cheeks. Hitsugaya stood up at once and stared at her.

"What flowers!" He demanded. Hinamori was taken aback.

"You…didn't give me the flowers?" She asked confused. "Who else could it be then?"

"Someone with a lot of nerve" replied Hitsugaya as he hastily moved past Hinamori.

"Where are you going?" Hinamori asked.

"To your office" he replied.

Hitsugaya crossed his arms after examining her office, which could now compete with a florist.

"Who would give me all these flowers without leaving a note?" Hinamori asked, baffled.

"Yo! Hinamori-kun!" yelled a voice from the door. A man about Renji's height and wearing shinigami robes was coming towards them now. With eyes that were only for Hinamori, much to Hitsugaya's distaste.

"Kaemon-kun!" exclaimed Hinamori, her face changed from surprise to delight.

"Kaemon-kun, what are you doing here?" She asked happily.

"I just graduated from Shinigami School and," he moved past Hinamori and picked up a piece of paper off her desk and passed it to her, "if you scroll down the list of new Death Gods then you will find that I have been assigned your division, Hinamori-fukutaichou." Hinamori quickly searched the list and yelped when she found his name.

"You're in my division!" She exclaimed, extending an arm out for a handshake.

"Welcome to the fifth division!" Kaemon took her hand and shook it.

"Did you like the flowers?" He asked.

"The flowers are from you?" She asked, a small blush appearing on her cheeks.

"Yeah" he replied.

"They're nice" she smiled back sweetly at him.

Meanwhile, Hitsugaya stood there observing the two with his arms crossed, his eyebrow and ears twitching uncontrollably throughout the whole conversation. He cleared his throat.

"Ah!" Hinamori exclaimed when she realised that the two haven't met yet – and ironically not realising the other situation she was in.

"You two haven't met yet! Hitsugaya-kun, this is Mr. Kaemon Takahashi, Kaemon-kun, this is Hitsugaya Toshirou, captain of the tenth division." She introduced proudly.

"Nice to meet you, Hitsugaya-taichou" greeted Takahashi warmly.

Hitsugaya was unmoved.

"How did you two meet?" he asked with his arms still crossed.

"You know how it's compulsory now for a vice-captain and a few of their selected squad members to accompany the students to their hollow training?"

Hitsugaya glared at him. _Of course I'm aware of that, I am a captain._ Takahashi, unaware of Hitsugaya's glare, continued his story.

"Yeah, well, Hinamori-kun was the assigned vice-captain for our group. She's very good."

Hinamori shifted uncomfortably at the compliment.

_You don't need to tell me that Hinamori is good, I know that already._ Hitsugaya retorted inwardly. _I don't need some Doraemon guy to tell me about Hinamori._

"Well, as you know I'm new here so I'm not familiar with the place. If you have time, can you show me around, Hinamori-kun?" Takahashi asked, scratching his head as though embarrassed about asking. Hitsugaya glared at him.

"It's Hinamori-fukutaichou for you since you're her subordinate." He informed him coldly.

"Maa, my bad, my bad. But you're a captain aren't you? And Hinamori-_fukutaichou_ always calls you Hitsugaya-_kun_ does she not, Hitsugaya-taichou?"

The room temperature dropped by fifty degrees. Hinamori could have sworn she saw some furniture become ice just a second ago. She glanced from one to another and laughed nervously.

Hitsugaya's eyes had narrowed to the point where he could have compete with Ichimaru Gin. Hinamori saw this and quickly dragged Hitsugaya out of the room.

"Wait a moment, Kaemon-kun, I'll be right back." She yelled behind her shoulder as she pushed Hitsugaya out.

"What's wrong?" Hinamori asked.

"I don't like him, he should learn to respect his superiors." He spat out.

"Hai, hai, but you don't have to be so cold towards him – he's new, he just needs to get used to the system here. You weren't exactly that polite either when you first came here, remember?"

"Oh, so now you're comparing me to him?" He retorted.

Hinamori sighed.

"I'm not comparing you to anyone, I was just saying." She amended.

"Besides," she leaned in and hugged his waist, "no one can compare to you." Hitsugaya scoffed and crossed his arms but Hinamori could see his resolve softening.

"Now go and do your work and I'll come find you after."

Hitsugaya looked at her.

"Pft, and now she's shooing me away" he thought out loud, shooting Hinamori a smile before walking away.

Hinamori looked at his back as he walked away and shook her head gently, smiling to herself before returning to her office.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER THREE

* * *

**

OOC and stuff but oh well :P Sorry for the slow update, I had a lot of work and issues to go through. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**Please review**. Thanks to the people who do.


	4. Dangerous Confessions

**

* * *

THIS MARRIED LIFE**

**CHAPTER FOUR: **Dangerous Confessions

* * *

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! 

**Author's Notes:** Drama, drama, drama. No lime so don't worry lol.

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own any part of Bleach, anime or manga.

* * *

Hinamori slowly drifted awake into the next morning and yawned. 

"Hey sleepyhead"

She opened her eyes slowly to the sound and found herself staring into Hitsugaya's aquamarine eyes.

"Kyaa!" she yelped and shot upright, hitting Hitsugaya at full force with her forehead.

"Ow, ow, ow" she cried out as she rubbed her forehead in a soothing action.

"Baka! What do you think you are doing!" exclaimed Hitsugaya. The impact had forced him back and now he was in a sitting position with his arms crossed and a large red bump protruding from his head.

"Ah, gomen, gomen" she apologised quickly. Then she looked at Hitsugaya and realised that he was in her room.

"Ano, what are you doing in my room, Hitsugaya-kun?" she asked baffled.

Thud. Hitsugaya had fallen on one side onto his bed and was now snuggling into the blankets and pillows.

"…" he groaned, "this is my room baka. You came here in the middle of the night and climbed in. Took all the space as well." Hinamori brought a finger to her chin.

"Hmm? Really?" she observed her surroundings and discovered that she was indeed in Hitsugaya's room.

"Hmm, I wonder how I got here," she pondered out loud.

"Hitsugaya-kun," Hitsugaya mumbled something incoherent into his pillow. Hinamori nudged him.

"Oi, Hitsugaya-kun," she called.

No response. She leaned in closer and tried again.

"Hitsugaya-kun, you can't sleep anymore. You have a captain's meeting soon."

No response. Hinamori sighed exasperatedly and shook him on the shoulders.

"Oi, Hitsugaya-kun, wake up!" Hitsugaya shook her hands off and snuggled deeper into the pillow. Hinamori gave up and sat there, observing his sleeping form. An idea suddenly popped up and she bit her lower lip. She lowered her head and kissed him on the lips. Hitsugaya responded and parted his lips but Hinamori deliberately broke it off causing Hitsugaya to groan out in protest. Her laugh was followed by a yelp when his arm suddenly shot out and pulled her into him. Then he coyly flipped their positions around so that he was lying half on top of her.

"Yes Momo?" he asked.

"Captain's meeting soon" Hinamori managed to breathe out.

"Oh?" He leaned down so that their noses were touching.

"Mm hmm" Her eyes trailed from his eyes to his lips. Hitsugaya looked at her for a minute before leaning down and giving her a quick peck on the lips. He gave her a quick smile before getting off the bed to get ready. Hinamori let out a sigh of protest and sat up on the bed. Hitsugaya smiled smugly at her.

"Disappointed?" He teased with a smirk. She threw a pillow at him and crossed her arms in a stubborn manner.

"No" she retorted, looking away. Hitsugaya chuckled and continued changing. He tied his zanpakuto to his hip and walked over to the bed. Hinamori was still looking the other way.

"Momo" he called. She turned to look at him and was met with a knee-weakening kiss. She moaned and hugged him closer to her. A moment later they broke apart for air.

"Happy?" he breathed.

"Very," she responded. Hitsugaya smiled and gave her a few quick kisses on the lips before finally heading out to the meeting.

* * *

"Hinamori-fukutaichou, can I join your group for lunch today?" asked Kaemon Takahashi casually with a hand gesture. Hinamori smiled at him. 

"Sure," she signed the last paper and set it down. "Shall we go then?"

They arrived at the food hall where Ichigo, Rukia, Renji, Matsumoto and Hitsugaya were waiting for them. Ichigo waved an arm at the two and smirked.

"Toshirou, is it ok for Kaemon to carry on like that?" Hitsugaya's scowl deepened. Takahashi noticed his scowl and leaned in to whisper something to Hinamori that caused her to laugh out loud. Ichigo looked at Hitsugaya and pushed a popping vein back into his head. The genius was positively fuming. Hinamori sat down next to Hitsugaya, a worried look spread across her face.

"Hitsugaya-kun, are you okay?" The entire group sans Takahashi turned to look incredulously at her.

"What?" she asked, bewildered. "Why is everyone staring at me?"

The food came a while later. Takahashi decided to initiate a conversation.

"A strange thing happened in our division this morning, did it not, Hinamori-fukutaichou?" Hinamori was confused at first but then started laughing as she remembered the event. Takahashi joined in the laughter. The remaining people threw a look at Hitsugaya whose eyebrow was twitching furiously.

"What happened?" asked Rukia who was now more curious than ever.

"Just a little stuff up in the morning training session" He chuckled as he talked, "it was one of those you-had-to-be-there events."

"Then why did you even bring it up then?" snapped Hitsugaya in a low tone. An awkward atmosphere clouded the group and everyone began stuffing their faces with food except for Hitsugaya and Takahashi.

Hinamori tugged on Hitsugaya's sleeves and brought a piece of sushi to his mouth.

"Eat, you haven't ate all day," she urged. Hitsugaya pushed her hand away gently and shook his head stubbornly.

"Not hungry." Hinamori sighed and placed the piece down on his plate. She set her chopsticks down on her plate and tried a different tactic.

"Well if you're not going to eat then neither am I" she announced, mock imitating his expression. They stared at each other – it was a battle of wills. A moment later Hitsugaya's stomach growled. Hinamori giggled and Hitsugaya sighed out an air bubble.

* * *

:_ A few weeks later_: 

Hinamori sat on the flowery hilltop and watched Takahashi train. He had been trying really hard to achieve his shikai lately and had apparently achieved it very recently. As soon as he achieved it, he asked Hinamori if she wished to see it. She had accepted and here they were.

"Are you ready?" he called out.

"Go ahead" she yelled back. He smiled at her and took his zanpakuto out.

"Kashou, faia fenikkusu!"

Hinamori stared in awe as a large phoenix made of red and orange fire materialized. The phoenix hovered above Takahashi for a moment before taking sight of Hinamori. It charged straight at her. Hinamori froze in confusion.

"What are you doing! STOP!" commanded a panicked Takahashi. But the phoenix didn't stop and continued charging full speed at her. Hinamori shook out of her shock and erected a defensive barrier around her immediately. It bounced off it and let out a wailing screech; it hovered around and stared at Hinamori. Then it headed full speed at her again. Hinamori and Takahashi's mouth dropped when it succeeded in breaking through the barrier. She quickly reached for her soul slayer only to realise that it wasn't there – she hadn't thought to take it with her. A scream made its way out of her mouth as she watched the phoenix charging at her. She braced herself for the impact. But none came - only an overwhelming feeling of spiritual pressure emanating from someone near her. She opened her eyes slowly.

"Hitsugaya-kun!" she exclaimed.

"Stay back, Momo" he ordered. Hinamori complied; she could tell from his voice just how angry he was. His spiritual pressure subsided. Hinamori looked past him to see that the phoenix had withdrawn and that Takahashi was standing there panting. Hitsugaya walked towards Takahashi, Hinamori trailed behind him.

Takahashi was met with a punch in the jaw from Hitsugaya and doubled over.

"Hitsugaya-kun!" exclaimed Hinamori.

"What do you think you were doing?" His voice was deceivingly calm and cool. Takahashi coughed and rolled over into a sitting position.

"Releasing your zanpakuto is forbidden in Soul Society unless it has been authorised by the commander. On top of that, you should never release your shikai around others unless you have mastered it – this is because you won't have full control as you have just witnessed. Since neither has happened, I am asking you what the hell do you think you were doing?"

"I-I'm sorry, I never meant to…" Takahashi broke off, unable to form his words. "It'll never happen again," he concluded. Hitsugaya scoffed.

"Takahashi, I'll say this once. If you hurt Hinamori or put her in any kind of danger," Hitsugaya began icily, "I will kill you." He stared him down for a moment before walking away. Hinamori glanced from Hitsugaya to Takahashi; she was caught between following Hitsugaya and helping Takahashi. _I want to follow Hitsugaya but Takahashi is hurt_ Hinamori weighed the two situations, _I'm sorry Shiro-chan but Kaemon-kun needs me more right now._ She walked to Takahashi and helped him up.

"Are you okay?" she asked, genuinely concerned.

Further down the path, Hitsugaya eyed them discreetly as he walked. He scoffed when he saw Hinamori tend to Takahashi's wounds and returned his eyes to the path in front of him. _So this is how it is huh?

* * *

_

"I'm sorry, Hinamori-Fukutaichou, I never meant for any of this to happen," Takahashi apologised profusely. Hinamori smiled a small smile at him and nodded.

"Don't worry about it, things like this happen," she assured him. Takahashi looked down.

"Since you're okay now, I think I should get going," she told him as she got up and headed towards the door. A hand reached out to grab her wrist.

"Thank you," he told her. Hinamori nodded before walking out.

* * *

Hinamori found Hitsugaya in his office doing some paperwork. He threw a quick glance at her before continuing his work. 

"Hey," Hinamori greeted as lightly as she could. Hitsugaya ignored her and continued reading through the reports. _So he is mad at me_. She sighed and sat down on the arm of the couch.

A moment of uncomfortable silence passed between them.

"Why did you agree to watch Takahashi's shikai release if you knew that one: it was dangerous, and two: it was against the rule?" Hitsugaya asked; his tone dripping with indifference.

"I don't know," Hinamori answered honestly. Hitsugaya scoffed. _Great, she nearly died for an unknown reason._

"I guess I just wanted to encourage him," she offered. Hitsugaya looked up from his papers.

"You're a vice-captain Hinamori. Vice-captains should encourage their subordinates but they should also know what's right and what's wrong." Hinamori frowned and was about to say something when they were interrupted.

"Sorry for this disturbance, Hitsugaya taichou, but is Hinamori-fukutaichou here?" A voice called from behind the door.

"Open up!" ordered Hitsugaya. The door slid open.

"Sorry for interrupting but…"

"I'll take it from here," Rangiku interrupted.

"Yes, of course, vice-captain Matsumoto," the shinigami bowed and slid the door close.

"Hinamori-chan, there's a note from Ichigo for you," she informed her, taking the folded piece of paper from her robes and handing it to her.

"_Momo-san,_

_Takahashi Kaemon has withdrawn from Gotei-13. He leaves tonight._

_Ichigo"_

"What?" Without another word she ran out of the room.

* * *

Hinamori searched every likely area of Seireitai that Kaemon would be but it was all fruitless. She stopped to catch her breath when she sensed his spiritual energy. She turned around slowly and gasped when she saw him standing there. 

"Kaemon-kun, I looked everywhere for you" she said breathlessly, "what's going on?"

"I was offered a place in the special ops team and I accepted."

"What? When?"

"When I graduated I was offered a space there as well as Gotei-13 but I accepted the offer by Gotei-13."

"What changed your mind? Why do you want to go to the Covert Ops Corps now? If it was what happened today then…"

"No. I'd be lying if I said that today's event's had no influence on my decision but it was something else that made my decision."

Hinamori looked at him with an eagerness to understand.

"It's just that," Takahashi exhaled loudly, "It's just that I feel that the Gotei-13 isn't right for me. I don't belong here." He tried to explain, his eyes pleaded with her to understand. To his relief, his reason seemed to sink into Hinamori. Her eyes dropped to the floor as she thought about his reason. Slowly she raised her eyes again and nodded.

"Is there nothing here that would make you want to stay?" she asked hopefully. Takahashi took a deep breath. _If she only knew_ he thought. Then it occurred to him – he was leaving, what was there to loose?

"You tell me?" He asked, one eyebrow raised. Hinamori was confused.

"Huh?"

In one fast and impulsive moment, Takahashi had Hinamori backed up against the wall with an arm on each side of her face.

"What are you doing?" Hinamori asked, her heart beat faster as the fear inside her grew stronger.

"This," he said before closing his eyes and leaning down towards her lips. Hinamori's eyes widened and she quickly clasped a hand over her mouth. Takahashi noticed and stopped a breath's length away from her face. A small smile embraced his lips. He pushed against the wall and stepped back from a still shocked Hinamori.

"I think that was a clear enough confession," he commented sheepishly as he scratched his head. Hinamori was speechless, her mouth opened and closed a few times.

"I…I like Hitsugaya," she managed to blurt out. Takahashi chuckled.

"I know," he said, "in fact, the whole Seireitai knows. But I've always been a dreamer." He looked at her proudly and ruffled her hair – like how Aizen used to. Hinamori blushed a little.

"Is it that obvious?" She asked.

"Hell yeah," he responded with a laugh. He picked up his belongings and waved a hand.

"I guess this is goodbye then," he said. Hinamori smiled a small smile and nodded.

"I guess it is," she replied.

Hinamori watched Takahashi leave until she couldn't see him anymore. She smiled to herself and then headed back to her headquarters.

* * *

Hitsugaya woke up in the middle of the night, shivering slightly from the cold. He was about to pull the blankets over him when he realised that there wasn't _any_ blanket on him. In fact, he wasn't even on his futon anymore but rather, he was on the tatami mat. _What the?_ He looked over to his right and realised why. Hinamori had come in again in the middle of the night and taken over his bed. Hitsugaya sighed inwardly. _Another cold night for me_ he thought. Then he remembered the extra blankets he had ordered Matsumoto to put in his wardrobe. _Not another cold night for me the - at least I was prepared this time,_ he mused and congratulated himself on a job well done as he got up and retrieved the blanket from his wardrobe. 

Hitsugaya made himself comfortable before propping himself on his elbows. He ran a hand through Hinamori's hair once before supporting his head with it. He couldn't help but think that this girl would be the end of him one day. He was simply just too scared of loosing her. Hitsugaya sighed inwardly again. And he nearly did today – if he was just a minute late she would have… _no, don't go down that path, Hitsugaya Toshiro_.

After Hinamori received the note, he concealed his spiritual pressure and secretly followed her. He swore he could have killed that bastard right then and there when he tried to kiss _his_ Hinamori – the laws be damned. But as it also happened, he didn't have to do anything. Hinamori had stopped anything from happening and everything was resolved in a non-head-rolling-off-neck (preferably by Hyourinmaru's blade but Tobiume could have sufficed) way.

Hinamori shuffled in her sleep and pulled Hitsugaya into her. She sleepily lifted her head and punched her 'pillow' into shape before getting comfortable again. Hitsugaya groaned in pain, _just another role of being boyfriend,_ he reasoned.

Hinamori slowly drifted awake into the next morning and yawned.

"Hey sleepyhead"

She opened her eyes slowly to the sound and found herself staring into Hitsugaya's aquamarine eyes.

"Kyaa!" she yelped and shot upright. But Hitsugaya was prepared this time. He lifted the pillow and quickly placed it between his forehead and hers. Hinamori rebounded and fell back onto the bed. She sat up slowly this time and rubbed her eyes. She observed her surroundings and realised that she was once again in Hitsugaya's room.

"Did I come to your room again?" She asked sleepily. Hitsugaya, who was sitting there with his arms crossed, nodded in response.

"Did I take all the space this time?" She asked. Then she noticed the extra pillow and blanket. "I guess you were prepared this time huh." Hitsugaya nodded in response again, causing Hinamori to sigh.

"Mou, are you still mad at me?" she asked. Hitsugaya looked away. Hinamori edged closer and rested her head on his shoulder and looked up at him.

"Hmm?" _Don't look at her, don't look at her, don't look at her._

Hitsugaya sighed in defeat.

"Baka, I wasn't mad at you," he confessed.

"No?" she pushed.

"No, just annoyed." Hinamori sat up straight and looked at him.

"You were annoyed at me?" she asked. Hitsugaya shrugged.

"Shiro-chan! Tell me!" she demanded.

"Well, you see," he began in a low and serious tone, "the diverted attention was just not on." He mumbled. Hinamori's eyes widened and she burst out in laughter in spite of the situation. _Shiro-chan is too cute!_

She realised that Hitsugaya was glaring at her and she recollected herself and cleared her throat.

"Were you jealous?" She teased.

"No," Hitsugaya replied forcefully but with a slight blush. Hinamori giggled harder and couldn't help but give him a kiss on the cheeks.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER FOUR**

* * *

Took a while for me to update, again. This is an example of my mood swings, lol, behold the fluff then angst and drama then fluff again! 

As usual, please review. :No flames, don't mind "gentle" criticism: Thanks to the people who do. :D


	5. Intro to Proposing 101

**

* * *

THIS MARRIED LIFE**

**CHAPTER FOUR:** Introduction to Proposing 101

* * *

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! 

**Author's Notes:**

I'm completely confused with the whole age thing so just go along with it.

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own any part of Bleach, anime or manga.

* * *

_150 years later_

"Ah! Happy 100th Anniversary Rukia-chan!" congratulated Hinamori.

"Gomen, I was going to tell you yesterday but I couldn't find you anywhere or taichou as a matter of fact." Rukia gleamed happily.

"Thanks! I still can't believe that we got married a hundred years yesterday," she gushed as she fiddled with her wedding band autonomously. Matsumoto eyed her weirdly. _If a hundred years isn't long enough to let the whole marriage thing sink in then I wonder how long it'd actually take._ Her eyes travelled down to the wedding band that Rukia was playing with.

"How does the whole 'rings' thing work again?" she asked curiously. Rukia had explained it to them before but that was over a hundred years ago so, typical of Rangiku, she had already forgotten its meaning. It wasn't as if she was going to get married. Ever.

Rukia wasted no time to explain. She straightened a little and a familiar expression spread across her face. It was the "time to educate these unknowing friends of mine about the trivialities of the living world" expression.

Matsumoto sighed inwardly as she watched Rukia take out her drawing pad and markers. _Why did I have to ask?_ She berated herself as she sighed inwardly again. Rangiku glanced across to observe Hinamori. What she saw caused a sly smile to spread on her face. _It looks as though Momo is eager to learn_ she reflected as she watched her in an amused manner. With that new revelation in her mind, Rangiku leaned back comfortably and watched Rukia draw her picture.

After she finished her drawing, Rukia flipped the pad over and held it up for her newfound students to see. Hinamori examined the drawing for a moment; a confused expression clouded her features.

"An execution?" Hinamori guessed lamely. She looked to Matsumoto for support.

"No, no. See how there's a person standing there with a weird weapon pointed at that person who is kneeling down with their arms up?" She asked Hinamori as she pointed to the picture, "well the person standing up is about to finish off the person kneeling down, see, and the person kneeling down is either putting their hands up in defence or pleading with the opponent to spare his or her life." Rangiku explained with an air of pride before she was scorched by the flames that Rukia was emanating. Kuchiki balled her fist and protested.

"It's has nothing to do with fighting – it's a freaking proposal!" she seethed as she willed herself to calm down. _It's okay Kuchiki Rukia; it's not your fault that they don't know how to appreciate fine art._ She cleared her throat and continued on in a calm and collected manner.

"See, the person kneeling down is holding out a diamond ring to the person standing up. It's clearly a proposal."

"Does the person proposing have to kneel down?" Hinamori asked. Rukia shook her head.

"No, it's the ring that actually matters. They can propose in any way. Anyway, the diamond ring is worn to show that the wearer is betrothed to someone. When you get married, you exchange wedding bands such as this one. Traditionally it's just a plain gold band."

"Does the male wear a diamond ring too?" Hinamori asked.

"A male's engagement ring is quite different to a woman's," Rukia recounted thoughtfully, "It's very similar to a wedding ring in that it's quite plain. Usually it's just a band with a small diamond embedded into it somewhere but generally, men don't usually wear engagement rings. Well, Ichigo didn't anyway." Hinamori absorbed all this.

"You seem very interested, Hinamori-chan," stated Matsumoto slyly. Hinamori blushed.

"Well, I'm just curious, that's all," she explained. Rukia examined her.

"You know, you're just the right age to get married," she commented. Matsumoto smiled.

"I guess it's time to give taichou a heads-up. What do you say, Momo?"

Hinamori's face sported a deep red now and she was flushing uncontrollably.

"I…I didn't mean…I…" Her words failed her miserably so she decided to stay silent and settled with staring sheepishly at her friends.

* * *

Hitsugaya looked up from his papers and glanced at Matsumoto as she entered and plonked down onto the sofa with a stifled giggle. He returned his attention back to his papers once more only to hear yet another giggle coming out of his vice-captain. Hitsugaya put his pen down and took a sip of tea. 

"What's so funny, Matsumoto?" he asked, not out of interest or concern for that matter but for the sake of his own sanity. Matsumoto turned in the sofa to face her captain.

"Well, since you asked – it's nothing really. It was Rukia and Ichigo's 100th anniversary yesterday and Hinamori and I were talking about it with her this morning and we kind of got into a conversation about engagement and marriage." Rangiku paused for her words to sink in and smiled when she saw Hitsugaya choke a little out of the corner of her eye.

"And?" he asked calmly as he placed his drink on the desk – he had decided it was much safer that way. Rangiku shook her head.

"The rest is girl talk."

"Did Hinamori hint anything, Matsumoto?" Hitsugaya asked as smoothly as he could in hopes that Rangiku hadn't caught the almost inaudible tremor in his voice. However, judging from the slight curl of her lips, he'd say he'd failed in that aspect. Nonetheless he looked expectantly at her with his arms folded comfortably at his chest.

Matsumoto threw her captain a teasing glance before taking a moment to think.

"Hmm, not really, though you might want to consider asking Ichigo about modern style proposals," she advised.

"Modern style proposals," Hitsugaya repeated after her to himself.

* * *

Hitsugaya shifted uncomfortably in the guest chair of the fifth division headquarters. Of all the things he had done this had got to be the most embarrassing one yet. Though, he was sure, that there would be more in the very near future. Hitsugaya sighed inwardly, _the pride I have to swallow for this girl._

"Well? What do you want to know?" asked Ichigo curiously. He noticed the tiny beads of sweat on Toshiro's forehead and raised an eyebrow.

"I need you to tell me," Hitsugaya took in a silent deep breath before blurting out, "I need you to tell me about the modern way of proposing." As soon as the words left his mouth he stared impatiently at Ichigo for an answer. However, Ichigo seemed to be occupied with other things – such as shock followed by a bout of rolling laughter. Hitsugaya glared at his friend and crossed his arms.

"Oi Ichigo!" He warned in a frustrated and impatient manner.

Ichigo punched Hitsugaya playfully on the arm.

"You're finally proposing! About damn time as well," he added, ignoring the glare he was receiving from his silver-haired friend.

"So?" Hitsugaya asked with increasing impatience. The topic was a little…unnerving for him. Ichigo shot Hitsugaya a smug smile before scanning the room to see if a certain vice-captain was around. Seeing that it was safe, Ichigo leaned in and began to educate Toshiro on the basics of 'contemporary' proposals.

* * *

Hinamori walked out of her office and into Ichigo's to find her captain and her boyfriend in a seemingly deep conversation. In fact, Hitsugaya seemed like he was constantly taking mental notes with all the nodding he was doing. Nonetheless she approached them casually. Ichigo looked up just in time to cue to Hitsugaya that Hinamori was approaching them. 

"Sorry for interrupting taichou, Hitsugaya-kun. Are you two going for lunch soon?"

Ichigo glanced at Hitsugaya then looked at Hinamori again.

"Actually, Momo-san, there's a captain thing that Toshiro and I have to deal with so we won't be able to have lunch together today. Would you be able to explain to Rukia what's happening as well?"

"Oh, okay then, I'll tell her taichou. Make sure the two of you eat lunch though," she looked at the two captains curiously before leaving the room. Once they made sure that she was out, Hitsugaya and Ichigo both let out a sigh of relief.

* * *

Hinamori placed the last report down on the finished pile and stretched. She turned to look out the window. _Mou, it's dark already – I wonder when Shiro-chan is going to finish._ She reached out and grabbed her teacup and brought it to her lips but didn't get a chance to drink it due to Hitsugaya walking in abruptly. 

"Hitsugaya-kun," she exclaimed, "have you finished your duty?" Hitsugaya scratched his head and looked away.

"Yeah," he replied, "Umm, Hinamori, do you want to come and watch me train?"

Hinamori was a little taken aback with the question. It had been such a long time since he had asked her to watch him train. She smiled sweetly at him and nodded.

"Do you remember the last time you asked me if I wanted to come and watch you train?" she asked. Hitsugaya nodded.

"You were upset then," he remembered.

"So you tried to cheer me up by sending Hyourinmaru over to me with a flower in his mouth."

"Hyourinmaru…was not happy about that," Hitsugaya recalled.

"How did you manage to get him to do it in the first place?" she asked curiously.

"We made a deal."

"What deal did you make?" Hinamori inquired further in a hopeful manner. She pouted when Hitsugaya answered her with an expression she had long identified as the 'you will never know' expression.

It never failed to amaze Hinamori how one moment it was night and the next it seemed like daytime whenever she entered the training grounds. Of course, she scarcely came here. The training ground were specifically for those who were either very close to their bankai and wanted to achieve it or those who have already achieved it and wished to practice more to master it.

She scanned amongst the precipices to see if there was a ridge that she could sit on. She found one that was not so high from the ground; about three metres up and leapt onto it.

Hitsugaya took a side glance at Hinamori to make sure that she was seated comfortably with a good view. As soon as he saw that this was appeased he wasted no more time in summoning Hyourinmaru.

A bright electric blue emanated from Hitsugaya's body and surrounded him as he slowly lifted his soul slayer to one side with a hand. A stream of sapphire blue energy encircled the sword before soaring in the sky to reveal the ice dragon Hyourinmaru.

Hinamori watched in awe as Hitsugaya trained. It never ceased to amaze her every time she saw it. A sense of pride for Hitsugaya filled her as she continued watching. A moment later she noticed that the dragon was gliding towards her. A smile broke out on her face when Hyourinmaru reached her and opened its jaws like it did so very long ago. A small sound of confusion escaped her lips when she looked into its jaws and saw a small box sitting on its sapphire blue tongue instead of the flower she had expected. She took the box and graciously thanked the dragon before opening it ever so slowly to reveal a diamond ring.

Hinamori's eyes widened, her hands moved up to loosely cover her open mouth. _Is Hitsugaya proposing!_ She looked up at Hyourinmaru who hovered in front of her just a while longer before dissipating. The training grounds suddenly returned to its normal day-like atmosphere. Hinamori looked down to see Hitsugaya looking up at her from the bottom. She slowly shifted her gaze from his eyes to the diamond ring again. Suddenly an intense feeling of excitement mixed with happiness took over her shock as the realization dawned on her. _Hitsugaya just proposed!_ Hinamori let out a laugh and squealed ecstatically as she jumped off the ridge into Hitsugaya's unexpecting arm who after catching her was met with a deep kiss on the lips. They broke apart a moment later, both quite out of breath.

"Is that a yes?" Hitsugaya breathed with a rare smile reserved only for her.

"You haven't asked a question yet so I don't know," Hinamori teased.

"It's a yes," Hitsugaya stated in a direct manner. He took the box from her and removed the ring. Hinamori laughed.

"What kind of person answers their own proposal?" she asked in a playful disbelief.

Hitsugaya placed a hand on her lower back and pulled her closer to him. He leaned closer, took a deep breath and lowered his eyes as he exhaled.

"Marry me?"

Hinamori's heart quickened. He was watching her so intently, drawing her into the aqua-blue depths of his stare. Slowly she gave a nod. Hitsugaya let out a torrent of air that he didn't even realise he was holding. Hinamori watched as he slid the ring on her finger.

The newly engaged couple looked at each other for a moment before he took her into his arms. Hinamori rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes in a state of blissful contentment.

The following day, the entire length of the vice-captain meeting was filled with excited chatter, laughter and a few outbursts of "about damn time" and "congratulations". Hinamori had walked in casually this morning expecting the meeting to proceed in its usual boring way and had, unsurprisingly, leapt up in shock when she was bombarded with confetti-happy or intoxicated fellow vices. One glance at her orange-haired friend though and the truth was revealed to her.

* * *

After the rather eventful meeting that had everything to do with her engagement and nothing to do with shinigami duty, Hinamori took off to find Hitsugaya. Following a long and fruitless search throughout the main buildings of Seireitai, Hinamori decided that Hitsugaya was probably training instead and so she headed off to the training grounds. 

She was walking towards his usual training spot when she was suddenly overwhelmed by an immensely powerful outpour of spiritual energy. She faltered, this spiritual pressure was not Hitsugaya's but it was not unfamiliar either. She quickly turned in the direction that the reiatsu was coming from. A screech rang out from above her. Hinamori shot her head up and stumbled backwards at the sight. _Takahashi's fire phoenix…that's impossible, how did I not notice it was right above me?_ A million questions ran through her mind as she stared up in disbelief and horror. Panic built up in her. The bird set its fiery gaze on her and the two held eye contact for what seemed like eternity. Then slowly the phoenix began to dissipate until nothing remained; leaving not even the slightest hint that it was there a moment ago. Hinamori released her breath and sighed in relief as she brought a hand up to wipe the sweat off her forehead.

"It's okay," assured a voice behind her. Hinamori turned around to see Kaemon standing there proudly with the blade of his zanpakuto resting on his broad shoulder. "I've being able to control phoenix for a long time now."

* * *

The two friends sat down on a grassy hilltop just outside the entrance to the training grounds. 

"I can't believe you came back," Hinamori exclaimed happily for the twentieth time in the last thirty minutes.

"Well special ops weren't really my thing," he explained casually. Hinamori raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you said that the Gotei-13 weren't really what you…" Kaemon cut her off.

"That was then, I have a goal now," He turned to face her and looked her seriously in the eye, "I've changed Hinamori, I'm no longer that boy who sits back and takes everything as it is. Now if I want it then I'll do anything in my power to get it." He was staring at her so intently and for a fleeting moment, Hinamori felt somewhat drawn to the darkness in his eyes. In that instant her heart quickened in fear and she quickly lowered her eyes to break off eye contact.

When she was sure that he wasn't looking at her anymore, Hinamori dared herself to observe his expressions and to examine his eyes. There was simply something about him that was unsettling though she could not grasp what it was. Perhaps it was the darkness in his eyes, or the way he conducted himself in a cold and distant manner regardless of the words that were coming out of his mouth. Whatever it was that unnerved her, Hinamori could not seem to identify what made her so.

"So," she started with an awkward lightness, "what is your goal?"

"I've challenged the ninth division captain for his captaincy," he stated bluntly, "my goal is to become a captain first." Hinamori was taken aback.

"What is your next goal?" she asked curiously. Kaemon looked at her with a serious expression.

"To marry you and make you my wife," he declared with a straight face. Hinamori faltered and he broke out in laughter. A moment later he became serious again.

"Are you nervous?" Hinamori asked.

"Hmm?"

"Are you nervous about challenging the ninth captain?" She asked. Kaemon shook his head.

"I am quite confident that I will win," he answered with poise, he smiled at Hinamori's raised eyebrow.

"I have a secret side of me," he added ambiguously as he stared distantly into the moonlit darkness. Hinamori looked at him. Kaemon sighed.

"About seventy five years ago I was attacked by one of the remaining hollows that Aizen had created. It defeated me and I was about to become a hollow but then…" Hinamori's eyes widened.

"You became a vaizard," she finished for him. _Was that the darkness in him, being half shinigami half hollow? But taichou doesn't have that darkness in him._

"Sort of but not really," Hinamori looked at him with a confused expression. He shifted so that he was sitting facing her.

"You see, there have been these lapses," he began, "if I wanted something bad enough but I couldn't get it no matter what I tried then whatever it is inside me will take over for a while. Like when I achieved my bankai, the thing inside me took over for a while and by the time I regained control I had achieved it."

"That must be scary," Hinamori comment softly, "to loose control like that."

"No," Hinamori was surprised by his response, and by his increasing enthusiasm of the subject. "It's not scary, it's quite convenient actually. To get what I want without doing much so easily."

"But do you remember what happened during the time you were not in control?" She asked.

"It comes back eventually, perhaps a day later or a week later but usually it comes back," Kaemon shrugged and Hinamori looked at him with a serious and incredulous expression. _How could he take this so lightly? Does he not know how dangerous it is, to him and to people around him? Is he so entrapped by the power that the demon inside him deceivingly provides?_

"I think you should be careful, Kaemon-kun," Hinamori advised slowly. The smile on his face vanished as his lips tightened. Hinamori faltered a little under his austere look but kept her stare. Kaemon averted his gaze to something behind her and she followed his gaze. She turned around to see Hitsugaya standing there with his arms crossed and one eyebrow arched. Hinamori let out an inward sigh of relief and stood up. Kaemon stood with her while Hitsugaya approached them.

"Hitsugaya-taichou," Kaemon greeted. Hitsugaya nodded in acknowledgement.

"Well, I am going to resume my training," he informed the two before leaving for the training grounds. Once he was out of sight Hinamori looked at Hitsugaya and exhaled. Hitsugaya chuckled.

* * *

Hitsugaya stared back at her. After listening to what she said about Kaemon, he was starting to think that it would be best he didn't become captain. He was too unstable if he couldn't control the hollow within him, and the captain rank allowed too much flexibility and power. He must remember to bring it up in the captain's meeting tomorrow. But right now, 

"Be careful of him Hinamori," Hitsugaya warned.

"Are you worried?" Hinamori teased.

"I'm serious," Hitsugaya responded in a stern tone.

"I will," she assured him.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER FIVE

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**

Later Hinamori and Hitsugaya will go through the more traditional form of formal engagement (Yui-no) and wedding. There would be a lot of alteration though because they don't really have a family and some other details don't match up.

**Please review**.This chapter hasn't been read through and edited yet.

I've been updating a little slower then usual because I'm currently in assignment nearing exam period.


	6. The Yuino

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* * *

THIS MARRIED LIFE**

**CHAPTER SIX: **The Yui-no

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Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I am so sorry it took me so long to update but once again, my updates would be slower than my usual update rate because of assignments and upcoming exams. 

**Author's Notes:**

**Yui-no**: Engagement. Once both families agreed to marriage, both families would meet at a formal gathering on an "auspicious" day in the Japanese almanac. Since Hitsugaya and Hinamori don't have families, families are replaced with friends. The function is carried out a little differently.

**Katsuo-bushi:** Dried bonito (a highly valued preserved food ingredient that is used to make soup stock). It is a traditional Yui-no gift to wish the couple a lasting marriage.

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own any part of Bleach, anime or manga. Some of the arguments between Ichigo and Rukia were derived from a video made by Decorgal.

* * *

"_What are you saying Momo?" Hitsugaya looked at her intently, the hurt evident in his eyes. Hinamori drew a breath, and forced herself to go on._

"_I can't do this anymore, I can't marry you Hitsugaya."_

_Hitsugaya remained deceptively calm but a thousand thoughts were running through his head._

"_Why?" His voice came out deceivingly smooth, not an ounce of fear or the slightest tremor could be detected in his words._

"_Because I'm in love with Kaemon," the confession hit Hitsugaya like a thousand knives and the pain that overwhelmed him was not a blade less._

Hitsugaya's eyes flung open, and he bolted upright in his bed. He peered around in the darkness before realising that he was in his room.

"It was just a dream," he said breathlessly, relief flooded through him. He slapped a hand on his forehead and dropped back down onto the futon. A small chuckle escaped his lips. _This is what they probably call pre-marital fears.

* * *

_

"Momo-chan, you look absolutely stunning!" exclaimed Rukia, "good work Rangiku." Matsumoto gleamed proudly at her work of art.

_Good work indeed, _Hinamori thought silently as she examined her reflection in the mirror. She could hardly believe that the figure staring back at her was herself. The kimono she wore was peach pink silk covered with a design of various flowers. And her hair, she had originally styled it in her usual bun using the gorgeous bun cover Hitsugaya had given her for their first date but Matsumoto had taken one glance at it and took it off, bent on creating a more elaborate hairstyle for this once in a lifetime occasion.

/ "No, no, Momo!" she had exclaimed before guiding Hinamori by the shoulders towards the nearest chair and forcing her to sit on it. In less then a second, Hinamori's hair was undone and Matsumoto was busy twisting it this way and that. The end product had her gaping in disbelief at the transformation of her hair. When she had finally stopped gazing at it, she had promptly turned to Matsumoto and appointed her as her designated hairdresser for her wedding. /

Hinamori took a full turn in front of the mirror and breathed in deeply. A loud knock on the door sounded throughout the room and Hinamori looked quizzically at Matsumoto, who shrugged and moved to open the door. Hinamori stayed in her bedroom while Rukia helped her straighten out the creases in her kimono.

Rangiku slid open the door and gasped.

"Taichou! You're not supposed to be here, what are you doing here!" she whispered brashly before attempting to push him further out the door. Hitsugaya folded his arms and looked at her with a slightly amused expression that also reminded her that _'I am your captain'_.

"I want to take her there," he stated coolly, giving her a quick look that told her not to argue with him as he brushed past her casually before his stunned vice-captain could utter another word. Matsumoto sighed exasperatedly and followed her captain.

"Oh, don't forget these," Rukia passed the folding fan and kerchief to her. Hinamori thanked her and tucked the folding fan into her obi; she couldn't believe she nearly forgot. The folding fan was a significant item in occasions such as this – it implied happiness and thus was believed to bring happiness into the future. She placed the kerchief in her right sleeve and examined herself in the mirror once more.

"Momo," On hearing her fiancé's voice, Hinamori spun around so abruptly that if it wasn't for Hitsugaya's fast reflexes, she would have been sprawled across the floor.

Rukia muttered an "I'll see you guys there" before quickly exiting the room, dragging Matsumoto, who was leaning against the door frame, with her despite the orange-haired shinigami's protest.

Hitsugaya helped Hinamori regain her stability, and then he eyed her up and down. A rosy pink coloured Hinamori's cheek when she saw the look Hitsugaya was giving her and she quickly looked away, trying hard to recompose her calm manner.

"Hitsugaya, what are you doing here?" She asked, her eyes were still bouncing off the walls in the room. Hitsugaya chuckled lightly, seeing Hinamori in such a flustered state was both adorable and amusing. He stepped forward and pulled her into a tight hug before letting ago. Hinamori looked up at him curiously, worry clouded her eyes and facial expression. She lifted her hand and placed it on his face, Hitsugaya placed his hand on top of her and leaned into it.

"Is something wrong?" she asked gently, Hitsugaya brought her hand down but didn't let it go, he shook his head and gave her a small smile for reassurance.

"It's nothing, just had a bad dream last night," He gave her a half smile that never failed to make her knees weak.

"What did you dream about?" she asked, curiosity rising in her. It was she who was always having bad dreams, the reversal of the situation was just too sweet to pass up.

Hitsugaya remained silent for a moment and gave her a look. He knew she was enjoying this reversal and decided to appease her, after all, him having a 'nightmare' was quite a rare situation. Nonetheless, it was utterly embarrassing for him to confess the contents of his so called nightmare. He took a deep breath in. _The things that women make you do_, he muttered inwardly before replying.

"In the dream," he started, Hinamori looked at him and urged him to continue, "You left me for Kaemon." Momo's eyes widened, and then her body shook as she tried to suppress her laughter. Hitsugaya frowned.

"What are you laughing at Momo?" Hitsugaya asked, seeing no humour in his disturbing dream.

"It's just that," Hinamori tried to stifle another laugh, "the idea is just absolutely ridiculous!" She laughed heartily again. A moment later she regained posture and threaded her arm through Hitsugaya's.

"Let's go," she led them towards the door but began laughing again just as they reached it. Hitsugaya couldn't help but be affected by her laughter, a smile appeared on his face.

"Stop it," he responded lamely.

"Hai, hai, Shiro-chan," Hinamori complied light-heartedly. Hitsugaya mentally slapped his forehead, _this woman was going to be the end of him one day.

* * *

_

The couple sat facing their guest as the guest presented the soon-to-be-married couple with the Yui-no gifts.

Matsumoto presented the most important gift to the bride-to-be – an obi. The obi was a symbol of female virtue. Rukia then presented the most important gift to the groom-to-be – a hakama, which symbolised fidelity. After the two main gifts were given to the future bride and groom, nine other gifts followed. These included an abalone shell to express sincere wishes, katsuo-bushi and a dried cuttlefish to wish the couple a long, lasting marriage, a fan opened from end to end to wish for happiness and a better future, and hemp to symbolise strong family ties.

The most ironic present of all was given by Shunsui. The irony lied not in the actual gift given, but in the choice of gift Shunsui decided to give the soon-to-be married couple. He had presented the couple with sake casks, which are meant to symbolise a pledge for obedience and gentleness in marriage. However, instead of putting money in a sake cask like many do as a traditional Yui-no gift, he placed sake in the casks instead, thereby defeating the purpose of the sake casks as a gift and its symbol. Nonetheless Hinamori accepted it with a cheerful smile and placed it alongside the other gifts.

The couple and their guest then sat down for a formal dinner.

"Oi, Ichigo, Rukia," called out Renji, "shouldn't you two give the couple some advice since you are like married?" Rukia jumped to it.

"Well, Momo, it's important for you to understand that men take forever to do something. You ask them nicely to do something – they won't do it, you ask them a little less nicely – they still won't do it. The only time when they actually do it is when you get a little angry and yell about it," she warned in a serious tone. The other women, including Yachiru, nodded in agreement.

"Hey!" protested Ichigo, "that's not true Hinamori, don't listen to my wife," he defended on behalf of his gender before turning to Hitsugaya.

"Nag, nag, nag, nag, nag. Is it a gene that women are born with?"

"Ichigo!" Rukia warned sternly before turning her attention to Hinamori.

"And don't expect men to ever admit they are wrong. Why is it that men can never admit it when they're wrong? They know we are always right and they always end up apologising in the end anyway," Rukia asked in genuine confusion. Ichigo turned to Hitsugaya at once.

"The most important thing any married man can ever learn is to shut up and say sorry. It doesn't matter how right _you_ are and how wrong _she_ is, believe me man, it's not worth it." Rukia stared at Ichigo in disbelief, and then looked at Hinamori.

"See what I mean? Men live in constant denial!"

"It's not the men," Ichigo argued defensively, "it's because women live in their own world with their own rules and even their own language!" His line of argument seemed to trigger something in his memory because he suddenly jerked upwards and snapped his fingers.

"The most important skill a man needs to master is not bankai," he began. Hitsugaya looked slightly confused.

"It's not?" he asked.

"No, my friend, the most important skill a man needs to acquire is the skill to decipher what a woman says and what she really means. Take "that's okay" for instance. This is one of the most dangerous things a woman can say to a man. See, in a dictionary it is defined as "agreeable, acceptable, satisfactory, or good" but put it in a negative situation and it becomes "I am going to think long and hard before deciding how and when to punish you.""

Hitsugaya looked at Rukia's seething form and turned back to Ichigo.

"Are you sure it's okay for you to be saying this now, in front of her?" He asked. Ichigo looked at his wife and backed away a little. He leaned towards Hitsugaya and continued his lessons.

"Women are fickle, you already know that, but married women are just utterly erratic," he said in a low tone. Unfortunately, Rukia heard.

"That's it Ichigo!" A balled fist shot out and Ichigo doubled over. "Let's take this outside!"

"Was that really necessary!" he barked back, "and lady, we are in the middle of an engagement party, we can't just get up and leave to have a fight outside! Where's your common sense woman?"

Everyone glanced from Ichigo to Rukia and back to Ichigo again as the couple continued their little verbal fight. Hinamori caught Hitsugaya's eye contact and giggled. _Married life was sure interesting it seemed._

"Alright, alright! I'm sorry," Ichigo practically vomited the words out. Rukia crossed her arms and waved a hand dismissively at him.

"It's okay," she replied. Ichigo shuddered at her response.

* * *

When dinner finished, the couple bid farewell to the guest before leaving the restaurant themselves. 

Hitsugaya walked Hinamori to the door of her room.

"Ne Hitsugaya, do you think we'll ever end up like Rukia and Ichigo?" Hitsugaya chuckled softly as he thought of the two.

"I hope not," he replied. Hinamori smiled and added, "They're a little odd but it's obvious they care a lot about each other." They held eye contact for a moment before Hinamori turned to slide the door open. Hitsugaya caught her wrist and twirled her around to face him again. He brought his face down and kissed her passionately.

"Shiro-chan," she uttered breathlessly when they broke apart. Hitsugaya smiled a half-smile.

"You could invite me in you know," he suggested.

"So you could beat me in another pillow fight? By all means," Hinamori slid open her door gestured towards her room, "You're welcome." Hitsugaya smirked and was about to walk in when a shinigami landed behind them. Hitsugaya and Hinamori quickly turned to face the intruder.

"Sorry to interrupt, Hitsugaya-taichou, Hinamori-fukutaichou, but there has been a situation at the tenth division headquarters that needs immediate attention."

"What? Now?"

"Yes sir," the messenger confirmed. Hitsugaya frowned and dismissed the messenger. He turned back to face Hinamori.

"I'll be right back. If I'm not back in twenty minutes then don't wait up for me," he told her. Hinamori nodded. She watched him leave until she couldn't see him anymore. Then she went into her room and slid the door close. She was about to switch the lights on when she sensed movement in her room. She quickly switched the lights on and turned around.

"Who's there?" she asked, her voice firm. She moved to her sleeping quarters. A tall figure stood in the middle of the room, seemingly lost in his thoughts.

"Kaemon-kun?" Hinamori glanced around the room before returning her eyes to Kaemon. "What are you doing in my room?" He didn't seem to hear her as he didn't turn to face her, instead, he seemed to be concentrating on a blank spot in the wall. Hinamori stared quizzically at his back and tried again.

"Kaemon-kun," she called out. Kaemon turned abruptly to face her. A look of pure horror crossed Hinamori's face as she realised what was staring back at her. _The hollow that possessed Kaemon was a Vastorode – the strongest kind of Menos._ A gasp escaped her mouth and she stumbled backwards, _Vastorodes are stronger than captains._

She glanced desperately around the room and, to her utter dismay, found that she could not reach her zanpakuto without passing the demon-Kaemon.

The Vastorode slowly advanced on her, each step he took forward, Hinamori took a step backward until she was backed up against the wall with the Vastorode only a few feet away from her. He had stopped advancing on her and was now observing her in gleeful amusement.

Thoughts ran through her mind wildly but she calculated that she could escape the bedroom before he caught up with her. But even if she escaped her bedroom, what would she do then?

_Hitsugaya!_ She thought panicked, _Hitsugaya would arrive any moment._ She couldn't let him face a Vastorode again, especially when the host held some contempt against him. It didn't take a genius for anyone to realise that Kaemon disliked Hitsugaya.

Hinamori made up her mind; she needed to lure it away from here as far as possible. And if the Menos was after her, then that just made the whole situation easier.

Hinamori closed her eyes for a brief moment then ran as fast as she could away from the Vastorode, away from Hitsugaya and away from Soul Society. She had never been more grateful for Hitsugaya forcing her to learn shunpo then she was now as she lifted her heavy kimono and ran as fast as it allowed her to. What she was going to do when she had successfully lured the Vastorode away, she will think of later.

* * *

**End of Chapter Six

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**

Once again, sorry for my slow update but assignments and exam preperations have kept me from doing so earlier.**  
**

**Please Review.** **  
**

* * *


	7. Missing

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* * *

THIS MARRIED LIFE**

**CHAPTER SEVEN: **Missing

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Thanks to everyone who reviewed! 

**Warnings:** This fic has spoilers up to the most current manga chapter, (currently 197, I think)

**Author's Notes:** Supposed to be doing work but ended up writing this chapter. Teehee, I think I've mastered procrastination. I've made some minor alterations to chapter 6. Thanks to **Bizoitnott **for informing me that Vastorodes are the strongest form of Menos, not Arankaru. Also, I forgot to add a reference in the previous chapter to Decorgal, which I have now added.

**Juban:** White cotton top and skirt, worn as undergarments for the kimono.

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own any part of Bleach, anime or manga.

* * *

Objects and furniture came crashing down with a tremendous thud as Hinamori threw them down while racing to the door. Her kimono was a great disadvantage to her in times like these and even though she had mastered shunpo, she was still disadvantaged in the fact that the Vastorode no doubt had the skill to fast walk too. However, her plans to create obstacles in his path seemed futile as the hollow casually evaded them, but at least she had reached the door with the Vastorode a few metres behind her. At least in that she had the advantage. 

As soon as she was out the door with clear space in front of her, Hinamori ran as fast as she could; only looking over her shoulder to make sure that it was following her.

It seemed as though she was running forever. Her head ached from the icy wind, and her breathing became heavily laboured. She came to a sudden halt as she was forced to stop for air, her knees bent against her will and she fell. Panting heavily, Hinamori scanned her surroundings. There were a lot of trees. _Where am I?_ She was lost, and if it were not for the current situation she was in, she would have laughed at herself.

Quickly sensing that time was running out before the demon caught up with her, she quickly lifted herself up but fell back down again as her foot stepped on her kimono. Hinamori gave a quick glance behind her and silently thanked the heavens for the fog. She hastily unfastened her obi and removed the kimono robe. The frostiness of the atmosphere hit her full force and she shivered in her **juban**. Nonetheless, she felt much lighter and the loss of the kimono would allow her more flexibility and motion.

She got up and looked around. _The fog, I can't see anything in the fog._ He could be anywhere now. Hinamori closed her eyes and tried to detect even the slightest hint of spiritual energy. _None_, her eyes slowly opened and looked around. _There's no point in running, I can't see anything. It'd be better if I faced him but…_ Her hands moved to where her soul slayer was usually kept, and she froze. _There's someone behind me_.

Without warning, Hinamori spun around and placed her hands in front of her.

"Hadou sanjuuichi," she chanted loudly, grateful that she was able to use the kidou chant without reciting the whole thing, "shakkahou!" The fireball shot forth and an explosion was heard, it had hit something. Hinamori was positive it was not Kaemon. _That was reckless, I gave my position away._ She began to run again but only ran a few metres further before she came to an abrupt stop. The mist had started clearing, slowly but unmistakably revealing a figure down her path. Her brown eyes narrowed to focus on the figure, logic screamed at her to run, but it was not in her nature to do so.

Hinamori blinked, and in that instant, the figure disappeared. _Oh no!_ She froze when she felt a gush of warm air on her neck.

"What are you looking at, Hinamori-fukutaichou?" the husky voice sent chills down her spine. The Vastorode-Kaemon caught her wrist and twisted her around harshly to face him, their faces only inches apart.

Hinamori's face contorted in horror when she saw his demonic face, and she struggled forcefully to become free. But it was all futile; the Vastorode was too strong for her. A gasp escaped her lips and her eyes widened in fear when she witnessed the murderous intent in his eyes that accompanied the demonic smirk.

The curl of his lips slowly became a smile as he tightened his grip on her wrist. He seemed to be enjoying the expressions of fear and pain that undoubtedly flashed across her face every time he increased his death-like grip.

_Snap._ Hinamori let out a bloodcurdling scream as she felt her bone break. Tears escaped her eyes from the pain, but she held her glare. A splash of amusement crossed his face as he observed a blue flame of defiance ignite in her eyes.

He slammed her against a nearby tree then tossed her to the ground.

"Demon arts doesn't work on me," he remarked tauntingly as he looked at her writhing form on the ground, his gaze moved to the sky as he held his arms up above him and closed his eyes, "I'm a Vastorode!"

Hinamori clutched her bloody hand and sat up against the trunk of a nearby tree. Her brows furrowed as she watched Kaemon in his insanity.

He lowered his head again and opened his eyes slowly to meet hers. Hinamori shuddered at the sight. His eyes had darkened dangerously, a bitter expression clouded his already demonic face as he slowly approached her.

"You," he spat out, "you contaminate my host's body, because of you, I cannot yet reach my full potential." The hatred in his eyes bored down into hers and immobilized her. His body began to shake and soon insane chuckles was emanating from him.

"No, not now," Hinamori stared at him in confusion, _who was he talking to?_ The Vastorode-Kaemon was now clutching his head as though he was in severe pain. Hinamori took the chance to escape. She clutched her bleeding wrist and ran, ignoring the immense pain throbbing though her.

A bridge came into view and relief flooded through her, _this is near Ukitake-taichou's division headquarters!_ If she followed the path, somehow it'd take her to the thirteenth division.

Her hand ran along the red, wooden rails of the bridge for support as she scurried across the bridge. A sudden flash of yellowish white light came at her from behind and hit her on the leg, causing her to loose balance. Hinamori was flung over the bridge from the impact and she hit the water, head first. Everything became black.

* * *

Hitsugaya yawned and gently placed his brush down next to the finished paper. He had just solved a slight dilemma that had arisen in the tenth division and had just finished his report on it. Someone had attacked a member of his division, leaving her severely injured. As her superior, Hitsugaya had to investigate the possible suspects and evaluate the event. The problem was that no one, not even the victim, knew who had attacked her. Thus not much was known about the issue at hand – the culprit or culprits, and their reason for attacking; whether it was personal or meant for something else. 

Hitsugaya groaned inwardly. It was way too late to see Hinamori now.

Loud and fast paced footsteps pounded towards his door. An instant later, a heavily panting shinigami flung open the door. Hitsugaya was about to make a snide remark about protocol when approaching captains but decided against it when he saw the state of panic the shinigami was in. He recognised her as the third seat officer of the fifth division, Hikaru Mika.

"Sorry for the interruption, Hitsugaya-taichou, is Hinamori-fukutaichou here?" her voice was shaky and uneven, very different from her usual calm and soft voice.

"No, she isn't. She should be sleeping by now," he informed her, "what's happened? I'll handle it." Hikaru took a deep breath in as she realised that she has a serious situation on her hands.

"What am I going to do? I have to inform taichou," she discussed with herself. A flash of annoyance appeared in Hitsugaya's eyes.

"Hikaru!" The poor girl shot up straight at the stern voice of the tenth division captain.

"Hai!" Hitsugaya raised his eyebrow in expectation of an explanation, he folded his arms and gave her a "don't let me repeat myself" glare. Hikaru sweat dropped but grew serious.

"Hitsugaya-taichou, please remain calm," she started, the tenth division captain's reaction to even the slightest mishaps concerning Hinamori was well known throughout Seireitai. Panic overtook Hitsugaya when he heard the implications of her words.

"Hinamori, did something happen to Hinamori?" His voice didn't waver but it was strong and demanding. Hikaru faltered a little under the captain's intense stare.

"An emergency report was just delivered to me by a member of my division since the captain was unavailable. There's been a disruption in Hinamori-fukutaichou's room. She…" Hikaru was in mid sentence when Hitsugaya brushed past her.

* * *

An expression of shock mixed with worry took over Hitsugaya's normally impassive one. The door was flung so hard that it had flown off it's slides. The inside wasn't any better either. Hitsugaya stepped through the overturned furniture and broken objects and eventually arrived at her bedroom. His eyes scattered around the room and widened when he noticed her zanpakuto lying on it's stand. A shinigami approached him from behind. 

"Ano, Hitsugaya-taichou…" He started sheepishly.

"Find her," the captain's voice came out soft but the command was clear. He clenched his fist, and spun around to face the shinigami.

"Find her!" he bellowed.

"Yes sir!" The shinigami squealed before scurrying off to relay the command.

"Taichou!" Matsumoto panted as she hung on the door frame, "I came as soon as I heard." Hitsugaya walked past her with not so much as a glance.

"Come, Matsumoto," he ordered. _Hinamori, where are you?_

Hitsugaya stopped suddenly. _Robes?_ He bent down to examine it, recognition dawned across his features. _These are!_

"Hinamori was here," he stated, passing the kimono to Matsumoto as he stood up and looked around. Matsumoto took the kimono and stood up as well, observing her surroundings. A gasp escaped her lips. Hitsugaya spun around to face her.

"What?" He asked, "What is it?" Matsumoto pointed to a spot behind him and he quickly followed it.

He bent down and touched the dark red substance, playing the liquid between his fingers.

"It's blood," he stated in a deceptively calm voice.

Hitsugaya suddenly stood up, causing Matsumoto to stumble backwards in surprise.

"Taichou?"

Hitsugaya remained silent, his expression contemplative.

"Hinamori's spiritual pressure, it's faint but I can feel it!" He quickly ran off in the direction with Matsumoto following him closely.

They landed on the bridge and briefly examined the debris from the damage. A gasp escaped Hitsugaya as he stared out onto the glassy surface of the water. Without hesitation, he leapt off the bridge and landed on the water's surface and ran towards the floating heap.

Matsumoto's eyes widened when she noticed that Hinamori was floating, her hands gripped the rail of the bridge.

"Hinamori, Hinamori!" Hitsugaya called out to her in panic as he bent down and scooped her out of the water. He shook her a little.

"Oi, Hinamori!" he called out, louder and firmer this time. A torrent of relief washed over him as she half opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Shiro-chan," she whispered before lapsing into unconsciousness once again.

* * *

Hinamori slowly came to; murmurs of concern filled her ears, along with the familiar smell of antiseptics and bandages. She lifted a hand to caress her forehead, and slowly opened her eyes. 

"She's waking up"

"Shhh! Don't make too much noise, it'd disturb her"

"Will you guys just be quiet!"

Her head was pounding with pain, and the voices weren't doing much to help it. She took a moment to prepare herself for the blinding light, but when she opened her eyes, she found herself in the shadows of four figures towering over her. Matsumoto, Kira, Renji and, of course, Hitsugaya.

"Daijoubu?" (Are you okay?) asked Matsumoto, concerned. Hinamori swallowed, her mouth felt so dry and her lips stung.

"Water," she requested weakly, "Can I have some water please?" As soon as the question left her mouth, a cup of hot water was held in front of her. She accepted the cup gratefully from Hitsugaya and looked up at him as she took a sip. Worry clouded his eyes; it was so intense that Hinamori chuckled a little.

"Shiro-chan, so serious," she said with a small smile. Hitsugaya was taken aback.

"Of course he is, you almost died! And all this time, not knowing what happened to you and where you were," defended Matsumoto.

"Huh?" She looked around and observed the concerned faces. _What does she mean that I almost died, and that they didn't know where I was and what happened to me?_ A look of absolute confusion took over Hinamori's delicate features. "What happened?"

"That's what we're supposed to asking you!" exclaimed Renji.

"Hinamori, do you remember what happened?" Hitsugaya asked gently. Hinamori looked at him, _what happened…_, her head hurt so much. She moved her hands to clutch it only to let out a squeal of pain. Warm tears rushed from her eyes as she clutched her wrist in pain.

"Hinamori! Quick, someone get Unohana!" Hitsugaya commanded to a nearby fourth division shinigami. Hinamori bit her lower lip, as though the action would refrain her wrist from hurting.

"I don't remember," Gosh her head hurt, "I don't remember what happened." She shook her head as she replied. Matsumoto placed her hands on Hinamori's shoulder.

"It's okay," she comforted.

After Unohana had tended to Hinamori, she allowed the guest to stay a further ten minutes before they left.

"So, what is the last thing you remember Hinamori?" Asked Renji. Hinamori thought for a moment.

"Umm, it has been a week since we have defeated Aizen-taichou," she recounted. She watched, somewhat amused, at the widened stares of everyone in the room, even Hitsugaya. She tugged on his sleeve.

"Hitsugaya-kun, why is everyone looking at me like that?" she asked in confusion. Hitsugaya remained silent and stared at her, _how do you explain to someone that they've just lost almost a century and a half's worth of memories?

* * *

_

Hitsugaya sighed exasperatedly as he left the recuperation room. _You spend way too much time in there then you should Hinamori,_ he thought ironically as he massaged his forehead.

"Taichou," Matsumoto called out.

"Yes?"

"You've realised that this is the second time today that someone who was attacked doesn't remember what happened, right?" Matsumoto asked. Hitsugaya turned to face her.

"Yes, and the fight started in Hinamori's room, meaning that whoever attacked her was after her. But why? If the two attacks are connected, what are the reasons behind the attacks? I'm guessing the two are interrelated, it is possible that the attacker's goal was Hinamori and used the other as a diversion," _And I fell for it._ Hitsugaya rubbed his forehead harder. He looked at Matsumoto, determination filled his eyes.

"But why were they after Hinamori?" Matsumoto asked.

"I don't know," Hitsugaya admitted bitterly, _but when I find out who they are, it won't matter why.

* * *

_

The next morning dawned, and Hinamori slowly drifted awake. She blinked a few times to adjust to the sun's light and shifted comfortably. She massaged her head and sat up as much as she could when something glittering caught her eye. She looked down to find the source of the glittering rays on her finger, and she examined the ring curiously. _What is this? It's beautiful._

A slight knock on the door snapped her out of her reverie and she looked up to see Hitsugaya walk in. She smiled.

"Hitsugaya-kun," she greeted sweetly. Hitsugaya gave her a rare half smile before turning to close the door. He walked up to her and stood beside the bed. A strong feeling of love surged through her when she caught his eye, and she quickly blinked it away in confusion. _I can't think of Shiro-chan that way! Or could it be that I…_

"So," she began, trying to avoid eye contact with him as much as possible, "it's been a hundred and forty years or so since Aizen has been defeated." Hitsugaya nodded.

"Can you," she hesitated, "can you tell me everything that's happened in that time?" Hitsugaya took a deep breath and pulled a chair to sit beside her.

"Well, after Aizen's defeat," he started. She examined him as he talked, watched his every expression, noticed his every gesture and heard every emotion that only she could hear from his voice, his tone. There was something wrong, perhaps it was the flicker of sadness in his eyes, or was it worry? She didn't know, but she was determined to find out. She listened attentively as Hitsugaya patiently explained to her what she could not remember. It was a trip down memory lane for him, but for her, it was something entirely foreign – as if he was telling her a story about someone else. Hitsugaya took another deep breath and continued on.

* * *

**End of Chapter 7**

* * *

**Next chapter:** Memories 

Like how **Intertiatic** asked, questions regarding Ichigo's family and friends will be revealed. If you have any specific questions regarding to the years before this fic started, just drop me a line in a review.

**Reviews would be wonderful**. For the people that review, you know who you are, **thanks heaps **for your reviews.


	8. Memories

**

* * *

THIS MARRIED LIFE**

**CHAPTER EIGHT: **Memories

* * *

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! 

**Author's Notes:** Until November 16th, my updates will be slow due to final exams and assignments but thanks for sticking with this.

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own any part of Bleach, anime or manga.

* * *

"Ichigo-taichou and Rukia-san are married now?" Hinamori smiled, she knew it would happen one day for the two. "How did it happen?" 

Hitsugaya opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted when Ichigo and Rukia came trotting into the room.

"Oi, Hinamori, what's this? I woke up this morning and found out that my vice-captain was hospitalized. What happened? How did you loose your memory?" asked Ichigo with a straight face. Rukia stared at him as though he were the dumbest person on the face of Seireitai.

"I…uh…" Hinamori was lost for words.

"Ichigo you idiot, when someone looses memory, they obviously won't remember what happened!" Rukia barked at Ichigo, as though the loudness will get the words through his head. Ichigo turned to his wife and came back with an even more brash answer.

Hinamori looked over at Hitsugaya. A vein was popping out of his head.

"Oi, you two!" He shouted at the bickering couple, "You don't just barge into a sick room and make a racket!"

Hinamori laughed softly - the whole thing was quite amusing to her. Hitsugaya, Ichigo and Rukia stopped and turned their heads to look at her. Their expressions softened at the sound of her gentle laughter. Hitsugaya regained his usual calm demeanour and folded his arms.

"Well, since Rukia is here," he started, "she can tell you how she and Ichigo came to be married." Ichigo's face became a tad red.

"Well," he said shakily as he scratched his head, "I have captain duties so I'll come by and see you later. Bye!" He gave Rukia a quick squeeze on the shoulder, and then he was off.

Hitsugaya took this chance to leave too, seeing as how he didn't really want to stay behind to hear a love story. He got up and was about to squeeze Hinamori's hand out of habit but quickly remembered and caught himself. He cleared his throat.

"I have to go too," he said without a hint of the hundred emotions burning inside of him. He nodded a "see you later" to Rukia and Hinamori and left the room.

"Congratulations Kuchiki-san," Hinamori chirped, and then her lips curled in a small frown, "though I am about a hundred and fifty years late." Rukia's brow furrowed at the formal address. _That's right; Hinamori and I were just acquaintances all those years back, and Ichigo had just recently been appointed fifth division captain._ She smiled politely and clasped her hands; trying to seem as friendly as possible – she could never do it really well.

"Just call me Rukia," she said in an overly high and sugar coated way.

"Kuchiki-san," Hinamori shrunk back at the glare Rukia was giving her, she smiled weakly, "I mean Rukia-san…" Hinamori bit back her words. She felt comfortable asking Hitsugaya how Rukia and Ichigo got married but she didn't really know Rukia so asking Rukia herself seemed a little…intrusive. She shook her head gently, "nothing, thank you for coming here and visiting me."

Rukia let out an exasperated sigh, and dropped all pretences.

"Don't be so polite with me," she said, "we've been friends for over a hundred years." She popped herself on Hinamori's bed and looked at her friend.

"So," she started in a light-hearted manner, "you wanted to know how Ichigo and I got married?" A sheepish expression crossed Hinamori's face as she gave a small nod.

"Well," _how to start?_ "As you know, Ichigo was appointed temporary captain of the fifth division after Aizen's betrayal. It happened shortly after the defeat of Aizen. By that time, I had already realised that I liked him."

_/ It was the day before Ichigo had to return to the living world again. Soul Society had been shaken by Aizen's attacks, and there were still many pieces that needed to be picked up, but peace and hope had been restored. Now all that remained to be rebuilt was trust, along with the politics, and the buildings._

_Ichigo and Rukia laid sprawled across the tatami matted floor in the 'living room' of his temporary quarters in Seireitai, both staring at the ceiling in comfortable silence, both lost in thoughts about the past few weeks, and also about the future._

"_I was just thinking," Ichigo started in a serious tone, breaking the silence, "that I'll be back here real soon since the people of Soul Society just can't seem to handle things by themselves." Rukia shot upright and scowled angrily at the smirk on Ichigo's face. He just loved firing her up like this._

"_It's not like these kinds of things happen all the time," she shot back, crossing her arms angrily, "and with the Central 46 decimated, everything was made harder."_

"_Well, the system wasn't so great anyway if it was so easy to kill off the Central 46," Ichigo replied with a yawn. A vein popped out of Rukia's head and her clenched fist shook in frustration and anger._

"_Bakamono!"_

_Ichigo closed his eyes and smiled to himself as he listened to Rukia rant on about deception, manipulation and what not. He stretched his arms, and then he brought them down behind his head, using his arms as a make-shift pillow as he enjoyed her loud and forceful voice. Since he was going home the next day, he might as well just sit back and enjoy it because who knew when the next time he would see her will be._

"_Ichigo?" Rukia had finished rambling to find a sleeping Ichigo, "Oi, Ichigo!"_

_He let out a grunt of acknowledgement._

"_Did you even hear a word I just said?" she asked with a frown. Ichigo turned on his side with his back facing her._

"_Geeze," she muttered. She got on all fours and leaned over him to observe his face. Her frown deepened, "the guy really fell asleep on me."_ He looks so peaceful when he's sleeping; nothing like the rude, loudmouthed idiot he is when he's awake. _A warm feeling washed over her, and her eyes softened._

_Rukia sat back and hugged her knees. _I wonder what happens after tomorrow. _She thought despondently, the heavy weight returning to her chest. The kind of weight that always appears whenever he's about to leave or whenever he's far away from her._

"_Nobody knows what will happen after tomorrow," his voice cut through the silence and startled her out of her thoughts._

"_Ichigo!" His back was still facing her. _I must have said it out loud,_ she thought, mentally slapping herself for her carelessness. Ichigo slowly sat up and faced her._

"_Tomorrow I'll go back to the other world," he said, folding his arms across his broad chest, "what happens after that, nobody knows."_ Just tell her you like her damnit. _Ichigo pushed the inner voice away stubbornly._

_A feeling of reluctance filled the room._

"_You could stay," suggested Rukia, knowing full well that he couldn't possibly do so._

"_You could come with," Ichigo suggested, his tone lacked emotion and showed none of the hope that he was trying so hard to repress inside of him. Rukia's spirits pummelled down deeper._

"_I can't do that," she replied sadly. They lived in different worlds; and in his world, she would be next to immortal compared to him._

_There was a long moment of silence. Finally Ichigo sighed and laid back down. Rukia crawled over to him and leaned over him once more._

"_Oi," she started, "are you going to be lying there all night?" Rukia thought for a moment, _if that's so then I might as well use this time to catch up on some manga.

_Ichigo opened his eyes and blinked, Rukia's large eyes were staring down at him. The two blinked at each other for a while. A strand of stray hair fell to her face. Without thinking, Ichigo reached out and brushed the hair away from her face, tucking it neatly behind her ear. His hand trailed down to her cheek and he caressed it softly. Their eyes met each others. Ichigo rolled to change their positions so that Rukia was the one lying on the floor now, with her head resting comfortably on his arm. Ichigo lowered his head towards hers. Rukia looked up at him and closed her eyes. Their lips met for the first time, and a jolt of electricity ran through them. The second time their lips met, the kiss was deeper, and longer. _

_They broke off for air, and for the longest moment, they stared at each other. Rukia turned a bright shade of red, causing Ichigo to quickly withdraw as he realised what they had just done. The both of them jumped backwards into a sitting position, laughing awkwardly at each other. Ichigo scratched his head. Their eyes bounced off the walls of the room, occasionally catching each other's eye, causing them to laugh uncomfortably to each other before looking elsewhere._

"_Oh my! Look at the time," Rukia exclaimed in her patented high, 'friendly' voice – the tone she usually took when she was talking to fellow students in the living world. "Nii-sama isn't going to be happy if I come home too late so I better get going."_

"_You know, that might have worked better if there wasn't actually a clock or a watch or something that tells us it's only eight o'clock in the room," Ichigo pointed out, the usual scowl returning to his face. Rukia stopped mid-step towards the door and sweat-dropped. She turned and grinned sheepishly at him._

_Ichigo stood up and walked towards her._

"_Uh, what are you doing?" Rukia asked cautiously._

"_Seeing if it was a fluke," Ichigo replied brashly, pulling her into him and taking her lips again. A torrent of sensations flowed through them, and they were reluctant to end the kiss even though oxygen, or lack of it, was becoming a big problem._

"_We have a big problem," Rukia stated breathlessly._

"_No kidding."_

"So how did you solve it?" Hinamori asked curiously, she was too into the story to be shy to ask any questions now. Rukia smiled.

"Nii-sama came up with the solution, believe it or not," Rukia replied.

"Kuchiki-taichou?" Hinamori asked, surprised and baffled. _Kuchiki-taichou!_

Rukia nodded. "Since Ichigo is a shinigami already, he could choose between living here in Soul Society and going back to the living world. If he came here, then Kon can take over his body in the living world. Ever since he became a shinigami, his human body became the equivalent of a shinigami's gigai. Ichigo decided to spend ten more years with his family in the living world before coming to Soul Society permanently."

"But what about his family?" Hinamori asked.

"Well, since dad was originally a shinigami, the body he is in is actually a gigai – sort of like Ichigo, except that it ages. In these cases, the shinigami returns to Soul Society after they 'die'; which is when their gigai can no longer be used. So dad lives in Seireitai now, he became a member of the newly found council." Rukia explained.

"But didn't Ichigo-taichou have two sisters?" Hinamori asked. Rukia's eyes dampened with sadness, and she lowered them.

"Karin and Yuzu had the same fate as everyone else who dies. They have probably been reincarnated back into the living world as different people now."

"Gomen," Hinamori apologised softly, "I shouldn't have asked you." Rukia cheered up a little and smiled.

"It's okay," she assured, "they both had fulfilling lives so…" Hinamori sheepishly lowered her eyes. That was when she caught sight of the ring on Rukia's left hand. There were two rings on her fourth finger. There was a plain gold band, but it was the ring below it that caught Hinamori's attention.

"Rukia-san," she asked, "What does the rings mean?"

Rukia was a little surprised by the abrupt change in subject but nonetheless looked down at her rings.

"The diamond ring is an engagement ring. It means that you are betrothed to someone," she explained, "The gold band is a wedding ring. It means that you are married to someone. It's a custom practiced in the living world."

"Betrothed?" Hinamori asked, looking down at her own ring. She looked up at Rukia again with a confused expression, "Ano, why am I wearing an engagement ring? Am I betrothed to someone?"

Rukia was at lost for words. _What am I supposed to say?_ She thought frantically. A sigh of relief escaped her lips when they were interrupted by another visitor.

"Hinamori-chan!" chirped Matsumoto as she walked into the room, "are you feeling better?" Hinamori nodded in response.

"So what have you two girls been talking about?" Matsumoto asked. Rukia glared at her, tiny sweat bead rolled down her head. _And I just got out of that, good one Rangiku._ Matsumoto tilted her head in confusion at Rukia's glare. _Why is she glaring at me?_

"I was just asking Rukia why I have an engagement ring on my finger," Hinamori replied. Matsumoto backed away a little, _so that's why. Oh crap, I think it's time for me to bail now._

Rukia noticed that Matsumoto was slowly backing towards the door and grinned mischievously.

"Matsumoto-_fukutaichou_," Rukia called, "why don't you come sit here?" She asked innocently as she gestured at the chair next to the bed. Matsumoto glared at Rukia.

"Oh yes, please sit down Matsumoto-san," offered Hinamori, _where did my manners go?_ Matsumoto smiled weakly and muttered a 'thank you' as sweetly as she could before taking the sit.

"Well," Matsumoto started, "the engagement ring…" _Why me!_

"It might not be an engagement ring at all!" exclaimed Rukia, "Women like to wear jewellery and rings are…a type of jewellery." Matsumoto shook her head at the lameness of the explanation, but if it worked then that was all it mattered.

"Just jewellery," Hinamori repeated, "but I don't like wearing jewellery so someone important must have given it to me," _like Hitsugaya-kun._

Rukia and Matsumoto's smile faltered at the comment. Matsumoto decided to take another turn.

"Putting that aside, Hinamori-chan, is there anyone you like in particular?"

Rukia tuned in fully and looked at Hinamori curiously. Hinamori's cheeks became a light pink.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean," Matsumoto said, "do you like anyone in a romantic way?"

_Do I like anyone in a romantic way? That's just an understatement, _Hinamori scoffed inwardly. She had woken up to find herself to be head over heels in love with her childhood friend. She had yearned for him as soon as her eyes had fluttered open, and when she saw him, a torrent of intense emotions had thrown her.

A hand waved in front of her, breaking her out of her reverie.

"Um, Hinamori?" Matsumoto asked, concerned, "daijoubu?" She looked at her fellow vice-captain and smiled an assuring smile.

"So, do you?" pushed Rukia. Hinamori became flustered at the intense stares the two girls were giving her.

"Ano," she started.

"Yes?" sang the two in unison.

"Did…did something happen between me and Hitsugaya-kun?" She asked.

"Taichou…you like taichou!" asked Matsumoto excitedly, _perhaps it's true that the heart has a mind of its own._

Hinamori nodded shyly, her legs slid up and her arms wrapped around them in a tight hug. Rukia and Matsumoto broke out in a grin that expressed both happiness and relief. Hinamori observed their expressions and knew at once that something did happen between them.

"Can you two please tell me what happened?" she asked pleadingly. _Or was it just a one-sided love._

Rukia nodded to Matsumoto, who inhaled deeply before continuing.

"The day you were attacked was the day of your Yui-no," she stated straightforwardly, at Hinamori's confused expression, Matsumoto deepened her explanation, "it was the day of your official engagement; yours and taichou's."

Hinamori's mouth dropped opened. She was engaged. She was engaged to Hitsugaya. She looked to Rukia for confirmation, and she burst out in a series of gasps when Rukia nodded an affirmative.

* * *

Hinamori fiddled nervously with her ring as she waited somewhat impatiently for Hitsugaya to come and visit her. _Engaged to Hitsugaya,_ the words echoed in her head over and over again, each time eliciting excitement, happiness, and fear. Fear that he no longer wanted her, fear that he decided she wasn't worth all the trouble and pain for him to repeat the last a hundred and fifty or so years. 

The door slid open and Hitsugaya walked in, sliding the door shut behind him.

"Hinamori," he greeted. He sat down on the chair next to her bed and fought down the urge to take her hand. "Feeling better?"

Hinamori nodded.

"Rukia-san," she started, "she told me about her and Ichigo."

Hitsugaya noticed that Hinamori was twisting her ring around her finger. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair and tried to concentrate on what she was saying.

"They have this custom in the living world where they wear two rings," she continued. Hitsugaya grew hotter by the moment – he needed to get out of here. He stood up abruptly.

"I just remembered that there's something else I have to do," he lied, he turned away and walked towards the door.

"This ring," she continued.

Hitsugaya froze. Hinamori twisted the ring around her finger gently.

"Do you know," she began, looking up at his back, "who gave me this ring?"

Hitsugaya didn't answer, and he made no move to turn to face her. Hinamori persisted nonetheless.

"Rukia-san said that a diamond ring on the fourth finger of the left hand means that the person is betrothed to someone. Did you know that Shiro-chan?"

Hitsugaya remained still and silent.

"Does that mean that I'm betrothed to somebody?" she asked. She bit her lip and looked hopefully at him. "Ne, Hitsugaya-kun."

Hitsugaya closed his eyes. What was he suppose to say? He didn't want to create awkwardness between them by telling her that she was betrothed to him. No, he was willing to wait another century or two, or even the rest of his life, for her to come back to him on her own terms. Besides, there wasn't much he could do about it; he wasn't capable of loving anyone else. He had already gotten to the stage where it was as if he had fallen down a deep pit with no way to climb back out. No, he had fallen too fast, too deep and too hard to ever get out of it.

He slowly opened his eyes and forced the lump down his throat; grateful that his back was facing her. He turned his head to face her.

"The ring is just a piece of jewellery," he told her in a voice void of emotion. _Forgive me Hinamori, one day I'll tell you the truth when you are ready._ With that, Hitsugaya walked towards the door.

"So that's it huh," Hinamori said softly, "You know, lying for whatever reason is not a great start for a marriage." Hitsugaya froze, his hands was just inches away from the doorknob.

"What?" he whispered, his head snapped back in her direction, "What did you say?" Hinamori slowly got out of bed and walked towards him.

"I know we are engaged," she told him. Hitsugaya's eyes widened.

"What! How did you know?" he asked.

"Matsumoto and Rukia told me," she answered simply. Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed; _those two are going to have very short lives._

"You're not obligated to do anything," he told her firmly, "the whole thing can just be disregarded."

"What do you want?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter," he replied. Hinamori hesitated for a moment before she spoke.

"I don't remember anything," she told him.

"That's why I said we can disregard it," Hitsugaya reminded her forcefully, even though it pained him to say it. She twisted the ring around her finger gently, and slowly slid it off. Hitsugaya watched as she slid the ring off, the lump at his throat grew larger, and he quickly looked away.

She took his right hand and placed the ring on his palm, and then she closed his fingers around it. He gave her a quizzical look as she clasped his hand with her hands and brought it close to her chest.

"I don't remember anything," she began again, "but I know that I like you."

Hitsugaya's eyes widened.

"If you think it's worth the effort, and if you still want to, then," she released her hold on his hand and lifted her left hand. Their eyes met, and Hitsugaya's aquamarine eyes bore into hers as though he were trying to figure out whether she was genuine or not, or whether she was just doing this for him.

A smile graced his lips when he finally found the answer, and he pulled her into him. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as it really hit him that he had been so close to loosing her. He quickly lifted her left hand and slowly slid the ring back on her finger.

Hinamori tiptoed and pecked him on the cheek. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow.

"You have a lot to remember," he told her as he lowered his head and captured her lips in a passionate kiss.

They broke apart a moment later for air, their foreheads still touching.

"That was an intense first kiss," she commented breathlessly.

"Second first kiss," Hitsugaya corrected with a smug smile. Hinamori smiled, and then her face became really red.

"What?" he asked, chuckling softly at her redness. He remembered they had both being like that after their very first kiss. Hinamori backed away slowly, leaving a very baffled Hitsugaya.

"Ano, Shiro-chan," she started shyly, she pushed the tips of her second fingers together as she talked, "how far have we gone, as a couple?"

It took a while for Hitsugaya to realise that she was talking about the 'union' between man and wife. In a split second, she had managed to make his face as red as hers.

"Not as far as that," he answered weakly.

A moment later, Matsumoto and Rukia walked in to find two very red faced shinigamis.

"So, what did you two talk about?"

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER 8

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**

Okay, the years may be a bit off because I'm not sure how time/years/life occurs in Seireitai. Anyway, please review, no flames.**  
**


	9. A Wedding Day to Remember

**

* * *

THIS MARRIED LIFE**

**CHAPTER 9: **A Wedding to Remember

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Thank you to everyone who reviewed! 

**Author's Notes:** Nothing like fluff and craziness to cure exam blues. This entire fic is smut/lime-free. Only minor suggestions, PG-13 level, I think, or maybe just PG, hmmm.

**Shiromaku:** The traditional white Japanese wedding kimono.

**Uchikake:** An elaborate rich patterned silk brocade kimono is worn over the white kimono at the wedding reception.

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own any part of Bleach, anime or manga. I don't own any of the songs used in this chapter either.

* * *

It was a peculiar wedding; somewhat _different_ to what Hinamori had in mind. Well, in truth, the actual ceremony went as expected; it was the reception after the ceremony that went somewhat _astray_. 

At the beginning of the day, a feeling foreshadowing something strangely unexplainable passed through her, even as she tucked her folding fan, which signified future happiness and luck, into her obi. She straightened her shiromaku and breathed her concerns off as the traditional pre-wedding jitteriness.

After the exchange of the nuptial cup of sake, the bride and groom were pronounced man and wife and the newly wed couple walked out together while the guests cheered and threw rice on them. This was when events started taking the wrong turn.

For the march out, Hinamori had Rukia prepare the shrine's inbuilt sound system, (courtesy of Rukia's wedding), with the traditional wedding tune. Unbeknownst to her and all others, Renji had stumbled into the shrine the night before for one of his well known 'karaoke-nights', - the shrine did, after all, have the best sound system save for Ichigo and Rukia's house. However, the couple had long banned Renji from using their sound system ever since his random musical inspirations had caused him to come over at ungodly hours and burst out in rather _creative_ displays of songs and dances. Thus, the shrine became his stage. As it was, he had forgotten to take his CD out and had taken the wedding CD with him instead.

Hence, as the newly wed couple was walking happily out of the shrine, they were suddenly accompanied by Elvis Presley's '_You Ain't Nothing but a Hound Dog'_. Startled, Hinamori whirled around to stare at Rukia with large, round eyes. Rukia returned her confused and startled expression while Hitsugaya looked on with amusement as though he was wondering how on earth his wife had acquired such bad taste in music.

Byakuya and Ichigo eyed Renji while Hitsugaya steered a flustered, frozen-to-her-spot Hinamori out of the shrine as Shuuhei asked, genuinely baffled, "what's a 'hound dog'?"

* * *

Rukia and Matsumoto helped put the uchikake on a shaking Hinamori while the poor girl pondered aloud on how the CD had been misplaced. Rukia and Matsumoto decided to keep silent for Renji's sake and continued in silence to fitting her with the elaborate red outfit. 

A high-pitched shrill suddenly pierced the room, followed by Hinamori quickly grabbing the nearest pair of hands to her , which happened to be Rukia's, and squeezing it in a death grip.

"Let…go, Hina…mori," pleaded Rukia. Matsumoto winced at the painful look on Rukia's face and helped pry Momo's hands from Rukia's.

"What's wrong?" Matsumoto asked, wincing again at Rukia's red, swollen and throbbing hand.

"I'm married!" she stated breathlessly. Rukia glared at her – that was really no reason for her to maim her hand.

"That's usually what happens at a wedding," Rukia hissed. Hinamori was too lost in her own world to take notice of her comment.

"I mean, I know that I knew that we would be married when we get married," she rambled, "but now that it has happened I just can't believe I'm actually married!" Matsumoto looked at her weirdly and placed a hand each on her shoulders.

"Hai, hai," she said as she ushered the bride out of the room to the reception area.

* * *

The reception area was simple but beautiful. The tables were draped with white cloths with lit candles and flowers set in the middle. They were set on a grassy area under the shade of full bloomed sakura trees. 

The reception progressed well for the first half but the problem lied in sake. Sake is always readily served at celebratory functions such as these and an abundance of alcohol is never a good match with some selected guests

In due time, chaos broke out everywhere. On (top of) one table, the talented singing trio: Isshin, Shunsui and Renji, were singing their own version of "I Will Survive" with a strong asian-English accent.

Isshin: "At first I was afraid"

Shunsui: "-I was petrified"

Renji: "Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side"

On the next table, beads of sweat rolled down Ikkaku's face continuously as he tried to answer each and every one of Mayuri's 'are-you-good-enough-for-my-daughter' questions. So far he wasn't doing too well.

Mayuri: "What is your brain equipped with?"

Ikkaku: "…fighting techniques, avoiding fukutaichou, …knowledge?"

Mayuri: "You savage. How will you improve my daughter?"

Ikkaku: "Umm, …happiness?"

Mayuri: Way wrong answer.

Ikkaku: - sighs out soul –

Even old reliable Yama-ji was under the influence as he sat slumped against a tree talking to his staff, "back in the old days…"

Things did not get better when Byakuya graciously offered Unohana some hair tips.

Byakuya: "I feel inclined to inform you that the style in which you fashion your hair is utterly abominable."

Unohana: -chuckles-

Zaraki storms in to her defence

Zaraki: "feh, talk about yourself heh." –Runs a hand through his spiked hair- "I should really take that curler off you."

Byakuya: "I wasn't aware that someone of your skills could accomplish what would seem to be an impossible task for someone like you."

Zaraki: "Want me to try?" –Smirk-

Byakuya: "Want me to allow you to try?" –Inward smirk-

But even amongst all this chaos, Hinamori remained deliriously happy. It seemed as though nothing could dampen her spirits today. Even if Yachiru was drunk. And the trio were now singing "I Can't Live If Living is Without You".

* * *

It was late night time when the newly weds arrived at their new house. Hinamori squealed when Hitsugaya lifted her up and carried her into the house. He gently set her down in the front hall. As soon as the door was closed and the main light switch switched on, Hitsugaya drew Momo close to him and kissed her. 

-.-.-.-

Hitsugaya crawled on top of the western styled bed. "So comfortable," he mumbled, dropping his head onto the soft pillows and turning to his side. Hinamori's eyes widened when she heard him snoring softly. She peered at his sleeping form.

"Mou," she exclaimed with a pout, "what kind of person sleeps so early on the night of their wedding." Hinamori gave a little jump when she saw a smirk cross Hitsugaya's face.

"What else are they supposed to be doing?" he asked coyly, his eyes still shut. Hinamori fidgeted with her uchikake and looked everywhere except at her husband.

"Moon watching?" she suggested innocently. Hitsugaya chuckled

"I'm too tired for moon watching," he replied. At this time, Hinamori was extremely flustered. _I really was thinking of moon watching, now he probably thinks that I'm suggesting the other thing…_

By the time she had recovered from her irrational embarrassment, she found that Hitsugaya was truly asleep. She sighed and decided to join him.

Horror and anxiety filled her when she realised that she couldn't untie her obi. _How did Matsumoto tie this! I can't possibly sleep in all this._ She stole a glance at Hitsugaya, and then she moved towards the door.

* * *

An urgent knock sounded on Matsumoto's door, waking the vice-captain up. She grudgingly got out of bed and answered the door sleepily. Her eyes widened when she saw that it was Hinamori. 

"Hinamori?" she asked, shocked, "what happened?"

"Umm, ano, Matsumoto-san," Hinamori began sheepishly, "can you, um, please help me untie my obi? I can't get it undone, it was tied rather elaborately."

"What!" Matsumoto cried, "can taichou not get it undone?" Hinamori blushed at the question.

"What are you embarrassed about, Hinamori?" she asked, "even after you untie that obi, there's still three layers of clothing after that."

"Hitsugaya-kun is sleeping," she answered in a quiet voice, hoping that Matsumoto would get the clue and not wake the whole Seireitai up.

"WHAT!" Hinamori winced. Matsumoto slapped a hand on her forehead and shook her head. She placed two firm hands on Hinamori's shoulders and turned her around.

"You are going to go back there," Rangiku instructed in a deceptively calm voice, "and you are going to wake that baka taichou up, and you are going to get him to untie that obi, and then you are going to go to sleep."

She gave her friend a little push out the door and closed it quickly before another word could be uttered.

* * *

Hinamori attempted to untie the obi herself again, but after many efforts she decided that it was futile. _Maybe I should just get my zanpakuto and… No, I can't._

She sighed and tugged on Hitsugaya's sleeve.

"Shiro-chan," she called softly, tugging him as she called.

No response.

"Shiro-chan," she called normally, tugging him a little harder.

Still no response.

"Hitsugaya-Taichou!" she called loudly, yanking him this time.

After the obi was finally undone, she hung the obi, the uchikake and the shiromaku over the divider screen before climbing under the bed covers in her white under robe. Sighing from the comfyness of the bed, she moved over towards Hitsugaya to use his chest as her pillow.

Hitsugaya nuzzled her neck but was stopped when Hinamori held out a hand to stop him.

"I'm tired," she said sleepily. Hitsugaya entwined his fingers with hers and leaned down to kiss her. A small frown embraced her mouth when he pulled away.

"That's cheating," she said with a pout.

"It's not cheating," Hitsugaya countered.

"What is it then?" she asked.

"It's strategy," he replied smugly, leaning down to capture her lips again before she could protest. The kiss deepened, and Hitsugaya moved over her as he pulled the blankets over their heads.

**

* * *

End of Chapter 9**

* * *

**After notes:** The chapter was a bit silly, and the characters were kinda OOC, but what's important is that it made me feel somewhat less stressed about my upcoming exams. -gets shot- This chapter was supposed to include some more serious bits of evil plans but I wasn't really in the mood for it. 

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the somewhat random chapter.

**Reviews would be wonderful.** Next chapter will be out after the 15th of November and sorry for the recent slow updates.

* * *


	10. An Alternate Solution

**

* * *

THIS MARRIED LIFE**

**CHAPTER TEN:** The Alternate Solution

* * *

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and thanks for being patient. 

**Author's Notes:** As summer holidays have begun for me, I shall be able to update more rapidly and frequently. (At least once a week.) This chapter has not been read through again so please forgive any errors. My excuse is that it is two am in the morning. Oh, and it is Australian spelling. For those who don't know what 'cheeky' is, (I was told that it isn't used often in America), it's the equivalent of mischievious, sly, devious. The word is more positive then negative though.

**-Hueco Mundo-:** Hollow world

**Refresh summary:** Just to very briefly refresh your memory on what has happened in the last few chapters: Takahashi Kaemon is a Vastorode, he has challenged the ninth division captain for his seat, Hinamori lost her memory and can't remember anything after Aizen was defeated, and Hitsugaya and Hinamori are just married.

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own any part of Bleach, anime or manga.

* * *

Hinamori slowly drifted awake and shifted comfortably between the silky bed sheets. She rubbed her eyes and opened them to see Hitsugaya propped on one elbow looking down at her. A smile graced her lips as she looked up at him and gently rubbed her eyes. 

"Finally awake, sleepyhead," greeted Hitsugaya.

"Good morning Shiro-chan," chirped Hinamori. Hitsugaya scowled at the use of his nickname. He crossed his arms and leaned against the headboard.

"You shouldn't address me like that; I'm a captain already," Hitsugaya reminded her. Hinamori's smile widened, "hai, hai, Hitsugaya-taichou." Hitsugaya beamed.

"It's okay," he assured her smugly, "I'll forgive you just this once, just because you're my wife." _Just because you're my wife_, Hinamori almost jumped as the realization dawned on her. As of yesterday, she became Hitsugaya's wife. And yesterday night, they had consummated their relationship.

She glanced quickly at Hitsugaya in a new found embarrassment and delved deeper into the security of the blankets. Judging from how hot she was feeling she was sure that the colour of her face was now a deep red. She pulled the covers up higher and refused to look at Hitsugaya.

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow and observed his wife in amusement. _What's going on? One moment she's fine and the next she's all flustered and shy._ Then it occurred to him. A pink tinge coloured his cheeks but he did not look away. As much as he was embarrassed, Hitsugaya could not pass up the opportunity to tease her. A cheeky smile spread across his face as he leaned over Hinamori, his face straight again.

"Oi Momo," he called to her, "what's wrong?" His voice was serious and full of concern even though he was aware of what was wrong. Hinamori's face grew impossibly redder at the thought of explaining why she was so shy all of a sudden to him. She decided to change the topic.

"Um, ano…Toshiro," she began nervously, eyes bouncing off the walls of the room, "what are you doing today?" The question was a lame diversion, one that brought a smile to Hitsugaya's face and caused him to gently shake his head. He'll let her go just this once.

He thought about her question. A frown creased his face as he remembered today's events. _Damn Takahashi._

"All captains and vice-captains have to attend Takahashi's tournament today, remember?" Hinamori's brows furrowed. She had forgotten all about the tournament.

"Takahashi-san's challenge to the ninth division captain?" she asked uncertainly.

"Yeah," he confirmed, unwilling to go any further into the topic. As far as he was concerned, Hinamori did not remember her friendship with Takahashi and he would do nothing to help her remember it either. To him, she was better off without him. The guy seemed somewhat off.

Hinamori noticed the hardened look in his eyes and sat up to look at him.

"Toshiro," she called gently to him as she tugged on a sleeve, "what are you thinking about?"

He shook his thoughts away and returned his attention to her again. His eyes softened when he noticed her curious expression. He shook his head.

"Nothing," he assured her. She smiled at him in return. Although she was curious about what had brought such a disturbed expression on her husband's face, she was also unwilling to press the matter further.

"Let's get ready," she said in a light and cheery manner.

She helped him put on his uniform and captain's robe, giving him a quick once over when she finished. Seeing that there were slight creases around the shoulder blade and right sleeve, she ran a palm over it to straighten it out. He caught her wrist and placed her palm on his chest, lowering his head to capture her lips. She let out a sound of surprise; the kiss was as impulsive as it was affectionate. Her knees gave way and he caught her, pulling her into a secure embrace. A smug but affectionate smile spread across his youthful face as he pressed his forehead against hers before helping her stand.

Hinamori drew a deep breath and looked down. She caught the sight of the kiss-induced creases on where she had grasped his robe. Letting out a deep sigh and shooting Hitsugaya a look of mock annoyance, she attempted to smooth the creases out with her hands.

* * *

They arrived at the tournament just a few minutes before it started. Hinamori rushed to Ichigo's side and bowed apologetically before sitting down. 

Yamamoto-soutaichou formally began the tournament. The two combatants bowed at each other. At the beckoning of the captain-commander, the battle for the ninth division first seat began. The speed of combat was so fast that only the highly-skilled were able to comfortably follow their movements. To the others, only the clashing of swords could be heard.

It was obvious after the first few minutes that a mere sword combat would not determine the winner. No, swords would have to be released.

"Kashou," Takahashi bellowed, "faia fenikkusu!"

Everyone in the stadium gasped. Hitsugaya's eyes widened. _Impossible, he combined with the phoenix!_ Takahashi stood embodied by the flames of his phoenix. His hand gripped his zanpakuto tightly as he lifted it up high and swung it down to point it at his opponent. A deafening shrill resonated throughout the entire stadium as the phoenix charged at its opponent. The ninth division captain prepared himself for defence and called out his shikai. A stream of yellow light streamed out of his zanpakuto and charged through the phoenix, causing it to dissipate. A smile curled on the captain's face as he aimed his next attack at Takahashi. He pointed his sword at him.

The captain's eyes widened as he felt what could have been described as a million knives passing through his body. _Impossible!_ He didn't even sense the phoenix behind him. His sight dimmed and he fell to the ground, lifeless with his eyes still wide open. Faia Fenikkusu returned to Takahashi and the flames subsided.

The whole studio was motionless and deadly silent.

Takahashi bowed at the fallen form of the ninth division captain, and then he turned to bow at the other captains. Yamamoto cleared his throat and stood up.

"Takahashi Kaemon has defeated the ninth division captain, Miyamoto Yasunobu. I thereby announce him as the new captain of the ninth division in his place." The announcement was followed by a torrent of obligatory applause.

Hinamori's head felt heavy. There was something in Takahashi's actions that was making her head ache, as if there was something she was suppose to remembering. She screamed and clutched her head as images flashed rapidly through her mind. All she could make out from the images was that she was being chased, _objects and furniture came crashing down with a tremendous thud_, _the fog, the sound of her hand snapping _– these images relentlessly invaded her mind; bringing with it an unbearably sharp pain.

The thundering volume of the applauses drowned out her screams except to those nearest to her. Ichigo's head snapped around at the sound of her first bloodcurdling scream.

"Hinamori!" yelled Ichigo, he leapt off his chair and rushed to her aid, "what's wrong? Hinamori!" He looked at the nearest subordinate. "Go and get Unohana immediately!" he commanded.

The applause died down and the shinigamis sat back down.

Another flood of images rushed through her mind, causing Hinamori to let out another scream. The fifth division members were now crowding around her.

"Hinamori-fukutaichou!"

Hitsugaya's head whipped around in the direction of the fifth division. His eyes widened at the panicked state of the shinigamis around that area and quickly rushed over there with Matsumoto following suit.

Panic reached its height when he saw the state that Hinamori was in. She was clutching her head as if though it would explode if she let go. Hitsugaya quickly brushed the others aside and went to her side.

"Hinamori!"

"Everybody, please move away," ordered Unohana before kneeling down next to Hinamori. She placed a hand on Hinamori's forehead; a green glow radiated from her hand and disappeared a second later. She closed her eyes and shook her head gently. Hitsugaya looked at her eagerly.

"What's wrong with her?"

"We need to move her to someplace quieter and less crowded. Follow me to the fourth division health chambers please."

Hitsugaya scooped her up and followed Unohana with Ichigo and Matsumoto.

During the walk there, Hinamori had calmed down considerably. There were beads of sweat on her forehead and her bangs were stuck on her face, but she was no longer being tormented by the images. She opened her eyes slightly.

"Shiro-chan," she croaked weakly. She was exhausted from the event and her screams had made her voice shaky and her throat dry and sore. Her body was trembling slightly.

"Hinamori!" He let out a sigh of relief. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"The images have stopped," she responded weakly, "I'm so tired Shiro-chan." He tightened his hold around her and held her closer.

"Rest, nothing is going to happen now," he assured her even though fear gripped the whole of him; he wasn't quite sure how he was going to protect her from what she was experiencing.

Ichigo squeezed Hitsugaya's shoulder and gave him a nod of reassurance.

* * *

Hitsugaya, Ichigo and Matsumoto stood outside Hinamori's recuperation room and listened to Unohana's diagnosis. 

"I cannot do much to help her as this is a conflict of the mind rather than of the body. My guess is that something triggered her to remember something she had forgotten. I cannot explain the immense pain but I may be able to make a better judgement once she wakes up."

"So, the immense pain she is feeling when she is remembering something is not normal?" asked Matsumoto.

"Not to that calibre, no," Unohana answered.

"What are we suppose to do?" asked Ichigo, "should she stay away from shinigami duties for now?" Unohana shook her head.

"Let her rest for today and tomorrow but it would be better for her if she resumed her normal duties as soon as possible. She may slowly regain her memories if she carried on with her normal duties. If you let her do nothing, I am afraid that she may have another episode."

"So we need to keep her distracted by letting her perform her normal duties," Hitsugaya looked to Unohana for confirmation.

"Just let her do what she did before today, you don't want to keep her distracted to the point that she can't regain her memory."

_Keep her distracted to the point she can't regain her memory, huh._ Takahashi eyed the group once more before slipping away. _Then I guess I'll just have to keep her very distracted.

* * *

_

Takahashi stood looking out the window in his newly acquired captain's office in the ninth division headquarters. He clenched his fist as he remembered the events of today. Yes, he did defeat the captain and won his seat but he had also raised suspicion amongst the higher ranking officers.

After the failed attempt to kill Hinamori, an attempt that would have eliminated the host from his body forever if it had succeeded, he had pursued the second albeit harder method of ridding him of his host forever. That method was becoming an arrancar by removing his mask completely. In the past, he had to rely on his host to avoid suspicions as when he took over control of the body, the mask would appear. Since becoming an arrancar, he did not have to worry about his appearance. And unlike other arrancar, he did not have a visible hole through his chest because of the way he chose to become an arrancar – a technique not yet performed by any other. He was the first and thus he was the hope of Hueco Mundo.

Yet he had elicited too much suspicion at this point, the fighting style and zanpakuto release is what sets arrancar apart from shinigami. On top of that, if that Hinamori girl remembered what had happened-

He stopped short of his thought and clenched his fist. It was too risky to kill her; the higher officials were already too suspicious. _And she is Hitsugaya's wife,_ he reminded himself. He had observed the tenth division captain for a very long time. The captain had an uncanny ability to make quick and accurate decisions even in the most unexpected events. This was all because he was highly observant. He possessed an ability of accurately interpreting observations. Combine this with his obsessive need to protect his wife and Takahashi could have no doubt that Hitsugaya would have no trouble connecting him to any of it if he stepped even a millimetre out of his line. This meant that keeping Hinamori at bay was harder then usual. That was, until he overheard the conversation between Unohana and the others. So, he needed to distract Hinamori to the point where she can't remember a thing about what she had forgotten.

Takahashi massaged his chin thoughtfully. Seeing as he wasn't able to come up with a plan yet, he decided to go for a walk. He was just walking around a corner when a conversation caught his interest. He quickly concealed his reiatsu.

"I wonder what happened to Hinamori-fukutaichou," gushed a girl to her friend, "and did you see how panicked Hitsugaya-taichou was! Gah, it was so romantic, rushing to her side." Her friend did not share her enthusiasm.

"Pft, it was not romantic Hitomi," protested her friend.

"Sei-chan, are you still in love with Hitsugaya-taichou?" The girl named Sei responded with silence.

"But he is married now!" exclaimed Hitomi. Sei whipped her head back to her friend.

"So," Sei argued forcefully, "So what if he is?" Hitomi sighed.

"I think you should give up Sei," advised her friend.

Takahashi thought this was the perfect time to intervene. He approached the girls causally. Their eyes widened when they noticed him and they quickly jumped to their feet and bowed politely.

"Good afternoon, Takahashi-taichou!"

"Ah, hello umm," he scratched his head and looked from one to another. The girls got the hint and quickly introduced themselves.

"My name is Hirayama Sei, sir," she gestured to her friend, "and this is Hitomi Sakiko. We are both in the ninth division, sir." Takahashi took in Sei's appearance: brunette, large eyes with fine features. She was incredibly pretty. He was pleased at what he saw.

* * *

The next day, he had her come to his office. He had expected her to be nervous but she had surprised him with her confidence. 

"Excuse me for my rudeness but I accidentally overheard your conversation with your friend yesterday," he began. He took a sip of his tea and looked at her.

"Oh, not at all sir," she was as amused as she was shocked at his choice of topic.

"I understand that you are in love with the tenth division captain, Hitsugaya Toshiro, am I correct?"

"Yes, but it is a one-sided love sir," her initial shock was now taken over by amusement and curiosity.

"If I gave you a chance to pursue this love, will you take it?" He eyed her seriously.

"Excuse me sir?"

Takahashi's expression told her that he was not going to repeat himself. Sei collected her thoughts and speech before continuing with uncertainty in her voice.

"Why would you give me this chance, sir?" she asked curiously and suspiciously.

"I have my reasons." She could tell by the tone of his voice that he did not wish, and would not, go further.

"But there is no chance, sir," she began, "he is married and clearly loves her."

"I'll give you an advice as your captain," he leaned forward on his desk and rested his chin on his intertwined fingers, "relationships can change in different situations, even if these situations are misinterpretations. The key to this is intervention. You are an intelligent girl, I am sure you can figure out what I am saying."

She took a moment to process what he was saying. A devious smile captivated her lips and she felt a surge of determination surge through her; a determination that Takahashi had already sensed was there. He knew she was the type of person that will let nothing get in the way of her goal once the path was set and her determination aroused. Triumph shone through his eyes as he picked up his brush.

"That being said," He began, "would you have any objections if I transferred you to the tenth division?"

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER TEN**

**

* * *

** Some details concerning Takahashi Kaemon is obviously not following the manga so details may differ.

Reviews will be great.


	11. Inadequacies

**

* * *

THIS MARRIED LIFE**

**CHAPTER ELEVEN:** Inadequacies

* * *

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. 

**Author's Notes:** Wow, seems like I got busier in the holidays then during exam period. Hmm…

To clear things up for darkfire22: Kaemon and Hinamori were friends but Kaemon is an arrancar now, so really it's just a demon with his name and body.

And to clear things up for Panoginip02: Hinamori's last name was used even though she was married because it was an emergency situation and I thought the others would use the more familiar name in that situation. I'll continue to use Hinamori but not in dialogue. In conversations, she will be properly addressed.

:**Shihakusho**: Shinigami uniform

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own any part of Bleach, anime or manga.

* * *

Matsumoto raised an eyebrow at the new transfer shinigami. 

"Hello Hitsugaya-taichou, Matsumoto-fukutaichou. My name is Hirayama Sei. I am the new transfer shinigami." She bowed after her introduction.

Matsumoto observed the new shinigami. Small, petite, Hinamori's height; her facial features were delicate; her overall appearance pleasing. She moved to shake hands with her.

"Welcome to the division," she greeted warmly.

Hitsugaya nodded a welcome at her but otherwise kept his arms folded. "The division's reselection of seats is in a month. Best wishes." He gestured to Matsumoto as a sign to show Sei what she needs to do.

"Hai," she affirmed before turning to Sei. "Follow me, Hirayama-san."

* * *

"I can't believe you were transferred to the tenth division Sei!" exclaimed her friend. Sei smiled broadly and beamed at her friend. They were having lunch just outside the tenth division headquarters. It was a scenic area; people from other divisions usually take this route to enter the tenth division head quarters. 

Sei was about to take another bite of her lunch when she suddenly felt the reiatsu of an approaching shinigami. Her eyes widened slightly: it was Hinamori-fukutaichou's – she refused to acknowledge her as Hitsugaya-fukutaichou - reiatsu. An idea suddenly rose to her head and she took a small bite of her lunch.

"I heard that Hitsugaya-taichou married Hinamori-fukutaichou because he felt sorry for her," Sei started; knowing full well that Hinamori was in hearing range. She smiled to herself when she felt her reiatsu was no longer approaching, meaning that she had stopped. Seeing that Hitomi couldn't see her, it meant that Hinamori was most likely to have stopped just as she was about to turn the corner. Luckily for Sei, Hitomi was never good at detecting spiritual pressure and had no idea of Hinamori's presence.

Hitomi stopped eating in shock. "No way," she exclaimed in disbelief. "In what way? Because she lost her memory? But he proposed before that happened."

Sei shrugged. "I heard that he courted her in the first place because she couldn't get over what happened with Aizen. He knew she couldn't trust anyone else so he decided to sacrifice his chance to have a real love life to be with her. So apparently their marriage is for her comfort and security rather than anything else; in his part anyway."

Hitomi's mouth dropped. "That's impossible! Everyone can tell how he feels about her."

"For all you know, it could be true. I mean, Hitsugaya-taichou does have an immensely strong desire to protect her." Sei casually took another bite of her lunch.

"Hina-, I mean, Hitsugaya-fukutaichou!" Hitomi exclaimed, bursting out in panic as she quickly stood and bowed. Hinamori brushed past them quickly, giving Hitomi a nod of acknowledgement. She was clearly too distressed to take in their appearances, much to Sei's relief. If she had recognised her, Sei was sure that she would not be in Hitsugaya's good books. Luckily for her, it seemed as though Hinamori barely saw her.

She sighed contently and continued eating.

* * *

Hinamori stood outside Hitsugaya's office and took a deep breath. _I can't believe it, no, I don't believe it._ She hugged herself as she contemplated on whether she should enter the room or not. _I need to make sure myself._ With that decision, she slid open the door and entered. 

Hitsugaya looked up from the papers when he heard the door slide open and put his pen down when he saw it was Momo. She gently closed the door and slowly approached him. He raised an eyebrow when she slightly bowed to him.

"Sorry," she began, gesturing at the door, "I forgot to knock before I came in."

Hitsugaya observed her peculiarly. He noticed that ever since she came into the room, she had avoided making eye contact with him; on top of that, she seemed very distressed despite her attempt to conceal it. He walked up to her and touched her arm.

"What wrong?" She looked at him for the first time since entering the room and noticed how concerned he was. She contemplated avoiding the question or even lying but after second thoughts she knew either would not work.

"Do you think we shouldn't have gotten married?" she blurted out before realizing that her question did not come out how she wanted _at all_. She touched her forehead as though it would help organise her thoughts. Hitsugaya took a step back.

"What?" He asked, bewildered. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"I meant," Hinamori started carefully, "did you marry me for the right reasons?" She could tell that Hitsugaya was beyond confused. She bit her lower lip and thought of how she could try again.

"I mean I definitely married you for the right reasons," she stammered, "I just want to know if you did or if you only got married because you felt-" She stopped mid sentence.

Hitsugaya was eyeing her so intensely that she became even more flustered. "Because I felt what?" he demanded.

Hinamori looked up at him. "Obligated, because you felt obligated." Her eyes were bouncing off the walls again.

"What?" He shook his head and came towards her. "Why would I feel obligated?"

"Well, because I had difficulty with what happened with Aizen-"

She was interrupted. "Aizen!" He repeated in disbelief.

"And you felt that I needed security and comfort," she continued, ignoring his outburst. "And then I lost my memory-"

Hitsugaya swiftly closed the distance between them. This time, he silenced her with a kiss. She tensed for a second, and then she relaxed into it. She slid her hands up his back and pulled him closer.

Hitsugaya finished the kiss but he didn't pull away from her.

"Does that resemble the actions of a man who was obligated to marry?" he asked softly. Hinamori couldn't find her voice, so she compensated it with a gentle shake of the head. Hitsugaya pulled away from her and folded his arms.

"Who put that sad excuse of an idea in you head?" he demanded, one eyebrow quirked upwards.

"I just overheard two girls talking about it on my way here," she answered truthfully. Hitsugaya exhaled loudly, earning a glance from Hinamori. He shook his head gently and walked away.

Momo was puzzled. "What is it Toshiro?" Hitsugaya hesitated a moment before turning to look at her.

"I have realised, Momo, that you lack faith in me." Hinamori's eyes widened in bewilderment at his sudden statement. "What!" she gasped.

He advanced on her slowly until he was right before her; his eyes boring into hers. "Do you not think so?" he asked calmly. Her mouth alternated between opening and closing.

"Shiro-chan!" she managed to stammer out.

Hitsugaya took hold of her hand. His voice was soft when he spoke. "I can let what happened with Aizen slip past but I will not allow my wife to be swayed so easily by gossiping morons."

She let out a soft gasp when he wrapped an arm around her waist and brought her closer to him. "From now on, you will trust me fully. Understood?" His voice increased in firmness but retained the gentleness he always used when talking to her.

Hinamori nodded and rested her head against his chest. He tightened his grip and looked down at her face. "Don't doubt me anymore, okay Momo?"

Hinamori looked up and gave him an affirmative nod accompanied by a reassuring smile.

Her eyes suddenly went a little wider and she pulled away from him abruptly. "Ah!" she exclaimed before scurrying to the little bundle she had left beside the door. She held it up to him. "I made you lunch!" she proclaimed with a great smile.

He looked at her in appreciative approval and took the lunch bundle to his desk.

* * *

Friday night came and the three girls gathered at Matsumoto's room for another 'girl's night in'. Hinamori was closely examining two electronic gadgets Rukia had brought with her. 

"Eh? It looks like one of those hollow transmitter devices used when shinigamis are sent to the real world," Hinamori deducted after close examination.

Matsumoto examined the other one and agreed. "Yeah, it looks just like one of those."

Rukia shook her head in disappointment and decided to impart some of her knowledge on living world devices to her living-world-deprived friends. "It's called a mobile phone: it is used for communication purposes. At first Ichigo and I thought it wouldn't work in Soul Society but it does."

Hinamori and Matsumoto looked at the cell phone sceptically.

Rukia ignored their scepticism and showed Hinamori how to use the phone. After her tutorial, Matsumoto and Hinamori sat back in awe.

"These are for you and Hitsugaya-taichou," she told Hinamori, "believe me, it becomes a necessity for married couples."

Hinamori thanked her and put the phones away. When she turned back to face her friends again, she found that they were staring at her intently. Matsumoto leaned against the sofa and smiled at her casually. Hinamori felt a chill crawl down her spine and swallowed.

"I see you managed to get that obi off," Rangiku stated slyly. Momo become instantly flustered at the obvious topic Rangiku was no doubt about to get into. "So, how was it?"

Momo decided to pretend that she had absolutely no idea what her perverted friend was going about. "How was what?" She asked lamely; her flushed expression and red cheeks badly betrayed her. Not to mention that her eyes were bouncing off the walls of the room.

"Come on Momo." Hinamori's eyes widened at Rukia, _you too Rukia-san!_

Rukia folded her arms in a stubborn manner. "I had to go through this talk too. There's no way I'm going to let you get out of this." After a second thought she decided to add with a pout, "Though my first time was nothing like what I read in the novels."

Matsumoto redirected her attention to Rukia. "Oooou, what novels did you read?"

Hinamori eyed the two cautiously as the two talked about the novels they had read and which one was good and which one was bad. She decided that they were sufficiently distracted for her to quietly escape.

Unfortunately for her, Rukia noticed. "Ahem, where are you going Momo-san?" She asked with smug grin. Hinamori froze and laughed weakly.

She waved her hands ecstatically before her. "No where," she replied lamely. She groaned inwardly as she realised that the attention was back on her.

"It was okay," she said shyly.

Matsumoto did not accept that. "Just okay?" She asked sceptically, "I guess even taichou can't be a genius at everything."

"R-Rangiku-san," she blurted out in embarrassment.

Matsumoto ignored her and continued on with her own explanation at why her genius captain lacked in this specific area. "It must be because of the whole no-sex-before-marriage thing; he lacks the experience you see." She pondered thoughtfully for a full minute. "But he should have gained more experience by now. I mean knowing taichou and his need to master every single thing-"

Hinamori was horrified. "R-R-Rangiku-san!" She looked at Rukia for support but received none; Rukia had gotten too accustomed to these kinds of talks with Matsumoto throughout the past century.

Matsumoto winked at Momo. "Have you noticed that I'm not in his office as much ever since you two were married? Though the desk and the walls are a little advanced for you two at the moment but the floor and the couch-"

Momo's jaw dropped to the floor. "Rukia-san" she threw another pleading look at Kuchiki. Rukia sighed and decided to help her friend.

"It might be a little too early for you to go into that deep a detail Rangiku," she said in a casual tone. Hinamori nodded in harsh agreement.

"But I haven't gotten into any detail!" the vice-captain whined. Rukia ignored Rangiku's protests and turned to Momo. "Ichigo and Hitsugaya-taichou will probably arrive soon," she said casually.

"Shiro-chan knows it is a sleep over," Hinamori said in response. She looked at the time. "And it's past twelve now so he is probably asleep."

Rukia shrugged. "Husbands can't sleep properly without their wives. It's a sad fact of men, I know, but they'll be here indefinitely."

Hinamori looked sceptical about that. "Taichou will probably come for you but I doubt Shiro-chan-"

Surprise became her when she saw the door slide open to reveal Hitsugaya and Ichigo. "Shiro-chan! Taichou!"

"Oi Rukia, let's go," commanded Ichigo. The usual scowl was on his face as he gestured with his thumb at the door.

"Momo, let's go," commanded Hitsugaya with a hint of impatience in his voice.

"What are you doing here Shiro-chan?" asked Momo.

Hitsugaya folded his arms. "Taking you home of course. It's late."

"But it is girl's night," she argued.

Hitsugaya looked at his watch. "Night was officially over forty three minutes ago." Ichigo nodded in agreement. Both men went to help their respective wives to get up from the floor. They threw a "good night" to Matsumoto before dragging their wives out the door.

* * *

"Shiro-chan, the point of a sleep over is to actually stay over at the place for the night," she lectured him playfully as they walked home. Hitsugaya said nothing and continued walking with his arms folded; a stubborn expression displayed on his face. 

"Why did you come get me anyway? Is something wrong?" she asked in concern. Hitsugaya remained silent and continued walking. There was no way in any world he would tell her that he had gotten to the point where he couldn't sleep properly unless she was safely home.

Hinamori pouted at his lack of response. "Well if it was nothing then I'm going back," she declared defiantly. She spun around with the intention to stomp back to Matsumoto's room when she promptly stomped into Hitsugaya.

She let out a soft cry of surprise and looked up to see him looking down at her with an arched eyebrow and his arms still folded. She turned around to where he was standing a second ago and then turned to look at him again.

"What do you do at these functions anyway?"

Hinamori thought for a moment and then began listing them with her fingers. "We talk, play games, watch things; just things like that."

"What do you talk about?" Momo remembered the earlier conversation she had with Matsumoto and began fidgeting with the hem of the sleeves on her shihakusho.

She blinked and shook her head, quickly moving her hands in a "nothing-all-all" wave as she did so. To save herself from embarrassment, she quickly walked past him in the direction of their house.

* * *

Monday came. Momo and Hitsugaya walked into the captain's office in the tenth division headquarters to find Matsumoto lying on the couch reading the latest volume of some manga series. 

"Matsumoto," growled Hitsugaya. He was contemplating giving her more paperwork just so she could live up to her vice-captain title. Rangiku took no notice of her captain's dilemma. "Yes taichou?" she asked innocently, quietly placing the comic book on the coffee table while she talked.

Hitsugaya shook his head in a 'why me' manner. He folded his arms and went to sit behind his desk. Matsumoto smiled triumphantly and picked up the manga again, winking at Momo before she resumed reading.

The wink triggered something in Momo's head and she flushed furiously as the 'suggestions' that Rangiku had so kindly imparted to her ran through her head. She shifted uncomfortably and avoided looking at Hitsugaya. "Umm, I should go to my division now," she stammered; with that she quickly walked out of the room, leaving Hitsugaya confused.

After gaining Matsumoto's attention after the third call, Hitsugaya decided to set some things straight. "What exactly did you tell Momo on Friday night?" He asked; Momo had been acting strange ever since she came back from that 'girl's night'.

Rangiku shrugged. "I just explained to her that the walls, floors, chairs and desk have an important purpose of being here is all."

Hitsugaya scowled. "No kidding." It seemed a fruitless task trying to drag anything out of Matsumoto.

* * *

_: One month later:_

"How did the reselection of seats turn out, Shiro-chan?"

Matsumoto answered instead. "It was pretty much the same. Except…"

Hinamori tilted her head slightly. "Except what?" she asked curiously.

"A new member earned the third seat," Hitsugaya finished.

"Who is he?" Matsumoto winked at Momo. "He's a her, and she has a thing for taichou." Hitsugaya stared blankly at his vice captain. "Oh come on taichou, the whole division knows it except for you. She's being trying to catch your attention for weeks."

This apparently did not sit too well with the vice-captain of the fifth division. She became adorably flustered in authoritative annoyance. With two balled up fist placed firmly on her hips, she demanded to know just who this daring third seater was. Matsumoto opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Sorry for interrupting," Sei apologised in a sweet voice, "I'm third seat Hirayama Sei. Permission to enter, sir?"

Hitsugaya hid his amusement at Momo's actions and gave Sei assent to come in. She slid open the door and bowed respectfully at her captain.

Momo observed Sei carefully. She had black hair pulled back in a French braid and dark brown eyes. Her shihakusho clung tightly to her slender figure, clearly outlining her curves. Hinamori was comforted by the fact that she wasn't as amply blessed as Matsumoto in the chest department. But then again, so wasn't she so that wasn't that much of a reassurance.

She narrowed her eyes and instinctively moved closer to Hitsugaya.

"I made lunch for the entire division," Sei announced proudly. She passed an obento to Matsumoto and a notably larger one to Hitsugaya. "I hope you like it," she said before turning to Momo, "I didn't know you were going to be here so I did not make one for you, Hinamori-fukutaichou." Her tone was dripping with sweetness; her expression sheepish.

Momo was all sweetness when she replied but the tension in the room had raised a notch. "That's okay, Hirayama-san," she assured with great sugariness, "It's Hitsugaya-fukutaichou now though." Her expression was cheery but her eyes confronted Sei's with a silent warning. Sei seemed deceptively unmoved and returned the confrontation with her eyes, her expression also remaining light hearted and polite.

Momo's smile faltered when her hunger gave way and her stomach grumbled.

"Momo." She turned to Hitsugaya with a questioning gaze. "Come eat." She was about to be defiant and refuse to eat Sei's food when she caught a glint of annoyance in Sei's eyes. Momo's smile suddenly became genuine. "Thank you for the food," she said graciously before adding, "It looks delicious."

Sei smiled back as nicely as she could and excused herself.

As soon as the door slid shut, Matsumoto released the laughter she had kept in during their encounter. Hinamori threw her a questioning glance, opening the obento as she did so.

"I didn't know you had it in ya Momo," she drawled before sitting down to open her lunch. "Its Hitsugaya-fukutaichou now," she mimicked before chuckling again. A pink tinge coloured Momo's cheeks and she quickly ate something to avoid further embarrassment.

* * *

Sei was fuming. To be embarrassed like that in front of Hitsugaya! She could still hear the sound of Matsumoto's laughter. She slammed her fist down on the table. Her eyes narrowed in hate. _Let's see if she'll still act like that when she looses Hitsugaya. To me_. That would be a most rewarding accomplishment indeed.

* * *

**End of Chapter 11**

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Not proof read yet. I think my muse is awry this holiday for some reason. I'll try to get the next update up soon if my muse decides to cooperate. As an after thought, I'll probably use Momo more than Hinamori now. Tell me if you object. XD Reviews will be great.


	12. Preparations

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THIS MARRIED LIFE**

**CHAPTER 12: **Preparations

* * *

Thanks heaps for the reviews. 

**Author's Notes:** Finally had time to write! Sorry for the very late update but here it is.

**:Hueco Mundo: -** The space between Soul Society and the Living World. Can be known as "Hollow" world.

**:Ajuukaru:** - smaller but smarter than the Gillians, they are thought to be far superior. Gillians are the first type of Menos that Ichigo fought early on in the anime/manga; the really, really huge hollow.

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own any part of Bleach, anime or manga.

* * *

Hitsugaya let out a desolate sigh. The room was now basked in natural light; a gloomy reminder that it was time to get up and begin the day's work. Though most days he didn't mind at all, today was one of the rare days when Hitsugaya Toshiro, captain of the tenth, did not feel like doing work. Perhaps it was due to the sinking feeling in his stomach that never failed to be there when something really bad was about to happen. Perhaps he was just being paranoid. 

He glanced at the sleeping form snuggling against him.

Or perhaps it was the bundle of heat lying next to him with her head comfortably settled on his chest as though he was the world's most comfortable pillow.

A low grumble emanated from his stomach and he frowned. Momo giggled and opened her eyes.

"Good morning, Shiro-chan," she chirped sleepily.

Hitsugaya ran a hand through her hair. "You had trouble sleeping last night." Momo tilted her head up to look at him. "How did you know?" she asked curiously. She had thought Hitsugaya to be deep in sleep at that time. Hitsugaya shrugged; a hint of a small smile graced his lips. "I heard you counting sheep." Momo's mouth formed a silent "oh" before she settled back down on Hitsugaya's chest.

He gently nudged her. "We have to get up now, Momo." She groaned and burrowed herself deeper into the blankets.

* * *

Sei was not happy. After weeks of attempting to break Hitsugaya and Hinamori up, it seemed as though everything she did was futile. 

She unfolded her arms and pushed herself off the wall before walking angrily down the corridor.

"Hirayama-san?" Sei stopped and let out a soft exasperated sigh before turning around. When she did, she made sure her expressions and tone of voice was all politeness: after all, appearances had to be kept. Ever since she entered the tenth division, she had earned the reputation of being kind, helpful and friendly. Though her intentions had never been genuine, the important point was that people believed it was.

She smiled. "Yes?"

Once again, the shinigami was fooled by her appearance. "There's a Hitomi-san looking for you at the eastern walkway."

"Hitomi-chan?" Sei repeated. She turned to the messenger and thanked him politely before walking towards the east.

* * *

Momo strolled down the wooden pathway that led her towards the tenth division headquarters. A familiar girl was leaning slightly against the balcony rails; she seemed to be waiting for someone. Momo took a step closer to her; her eyes looked on with curious examination while her mind raced to remember why this girl seemed so familiar. 

Her thoughts were interrupted when the girl looked up and noticed her looking at her. The girl addressed her politely but in such a flustered manner that caused Momo to feel quite amused and slightly apologetic. She walked the remaining distance to her and smiled brightly; as though the bright smile would radiate some of her friendly nature and assure the poor girl in front of her that she wasn't that scary. Honestly, Momo didn't know why the girl was so uncomfortable about being in her presence.

"I'm really sorry about that time, I really didn't know you were there otherwise I would have stopped Sei from talking," Hitomi blurted out. Momo was taken aback. _That time? What is she talking about?_ She looked at the girl strangely. Then she remembered. _That's right; she's the girl who was discussing that rumour with her friend. Wait, did she say Sei?_ Momo's brows furrowed at the mention of that name. "You are Hirayama Sei's friend?"

Hitomi swallowed and nodded slowly. Momo stiffened without realising it; in fact, she was too involved in an internal war with herself about not treating Hitomi coldly just because she is Sei's friend to notice Hitomi's intense discomfort at being around the vice-captain.

Hitomi, on the other hand, interpreted the vice-captain's concentrated look somewhat differently. Thinking that Momo was thinking about ways to punish Sei; Hitomi rushed at once to her friend's rescue. "Sei's not a bad person, really, she's just really, really ambitious. She just has a really, really big crush on Hitsugaya-taichou ever since she laid eyes on him."

Momo snapped out of her thoughts and turned her head slightly to face Hitomi, who again misinterpreted the action. Hitomi quickly put her hands up and moved it in an apologetic wave while saying, "Not that I'm saying that it's right for her to pursue this crush, especially since he's married now. She did give up, I swear, but then taichou said he was going to help--" She quickly slapped a hand over her mouth but it was too late.

"Your captain?" Momo asked. She paused in thought. "Who is your captain, ano…" She looked at Hitomi, who took a moment to get what she was trying to think of.

"Sakiko Hitomi, ninth squad," she said systematically with a smile and lowered eyes before biting her lips and mentally slapping herself upside the head. She wasn't supposed to tell her what division she was in, in fact, she wasn't suppose to tell her anything and especially not about the captain's involvement. She bit her lips harder; Sei is so going to kill her.

"Ninth squad," Momo repeated, "Ninth squad. So your captain is Captain Takahashi." She turned and started walking away; suddenly deeper in thought. _What Captain has the time to play with people's lives?_ She shook her head disapprovingly.

* * *

"Toushiro, what reason did Takahashi-taichou give for the transfer of Sei?" Hitsugaya looked up from his papers. "Hmmm? Sei? She was the one who wanted to transfer, her captain had nothing against it so he initiated it. Why?" She shook her head gently and laid back down on the sofa. 

A few seconds later, she popped her head out of the edge of sofa again. "Toushiro?" He looked up from his papers again to give her his attention. "Yes"

"Do you know why she wanted to transfer?"

Hitsugaya took a sip of tea. "No, why don't you ask her." Momo frowned, "I don't need to: I already know why she wanted to transfer." She eyed Hitsugaya before lying back down onto the sofa.

A moment of silence passed between them before Momo popped her head out the edge of the sofa again.

"Toushiro." The corners of his lips curled up ever so slightly as he leaned into his chair. "Yes, Momo?" He folded his arms and looked at her. After a moment's contemplation, Momo shook her head gently. "Nothing."

"I should get back to the office now; I can just see the paperwork piling up."

* * *

Momo stood outside the ninth division headquarters and contemplated whether or not she should confront the captain or not. She hadn't originally planned to go see the captain at all but the idea occurred to her as she passed the building on her way back. 

After thinking about it for a few minutes, she decided that perhaps it was not such a good idea to confront the captain about it. For one, she could have made the wrong assumptions. Hitomi, after all, hadn't finished her sentence. On top of that, if she was wrong and confronted him about it, she didn't think she'll ever be able to climb out of the hole she dug for herself. Secondly, Takahashi was a captain; it was not the vice-captain's place to question a captain's decisions.

She mentally applauded herself for thinking the situation through and not carrying through with her impulsive decisions that are otherwise deemed 'rash' by Hitsugaya. _Shiro-chan would be so proud._ She smiled and turned to walk away.

Her smile faded quickly when she realised that Takahashi-taichou was standing only a few feet away from her. He had obviously been looking at her; an amused expression was displayed across his features. Momo felt her body stiffen when he started walking towards her. She lowered her gaze in hope that he'll just walk straight past her. She should have known she wasn't that lucky: the captain stopped a foot short from her. She looked up reluctantly.

"Is something wrong, Hitsugaya-fukutaichou?" He asked, one eyebrow raised.

"No, sir."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir."

"Is there any reason in particular for you to be standing outside my division headquarters?"

"No, sir, I was just passing by."

"Does standing here for five minutes count as 'passing by'?"

_Okay, what is with all these questions!_ "No, sir. I stopped to think about something, sir." The captain laughed. Momo looked at him weirdly. "Sir?"

"You haven't changed at all, Momo-san," he commented casually as he looked up at the sky as though he was reminiscing something.

"Excuse me, sir?" Momo was confused. Did she know him?

"We use to be very good friends, you and I. Unfortunately, due to some 'circumstances', we weren't allowed to continue our friendship."

Momo was taken aback. They were friends? Her curiosity took the better of her. "We were?"

He smiled a wistful smile and nodded. "Yes, it was a few months after The Betrayal. You were sent to supervise a group of students while they carried out their hollow training."

Her eyes widened. "You were one of the students?"

He chuckled at her surprised reaction and nodded. "Yes, I was."

Momo was impressed. "Wow, and now you are a captain!"

"Well, after that we became really good friends." Momo smiled then paused in thought.

"Why didn't you come visit me in the hospital then?" She asked curiously. Suddenly, as though realizing that she may have over stepped her lines as a vice-captain, she quickly moved her hands in an apologetic wave. "I didn't mean to be intrusive, sir."

Takahashi laughed heartily at her reaction. "It's okay, like I said, we're old friends. Believe me, I wanted to visit you, but then, as I said before, there are circumstances. I doubt that I would have been very welcome." He looked at her knowingly as he asked the next question, "You want to know what the circumstances are, don't you?"

A deep red crept up her cheeks and she lowered her eyes, nonetheless giving one firm nod. He laughed again and she looked up to watch him, backing up one step as he moved forward and brought his face dangerously close to hers; his voice was a whisper. "I liked you." He smiled a small smile and stepped away from her. "This, as you can imagine, did not go down too well with your husband." His gaze averted from her face to something behind her. "Didn't it, Hitsugaya-taichou?"

Momo turned around to see Hitsugaya standing a few mere metres away from them. "Hitsugaya-kun." He kept his gaze on Takahashi. Momo looked from one captain to another and swallowed; he wasn't joking about the tension. As soon as Takahashi broke off eye contact with Hitsugaya, Hitsugaya walked the remaining distance and stepped protectively in front of Momo, pushing her back gently as he did so. A smug expression appeared on Takahashi's face as he met Hitsugaya's icy eyes once more. "Hitsugaya-taichou." He greeted in a casual tone.

"Takahashi." He greeted back in an equally casual manner. He gave Takahashi a stern look of warning to stay away before leading Momo.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:

"Be careful of the ninth division captain, Momo," Hitsugaya warned when they got back to his office.

Momo looked quizzically at him. "Takahashi-taichou?"

"Yeah." His eyes narrowed in thought. There was something suspicious about the way Takahashi fought. Ever since the tournament, the image of his soul-slayer release constantly lingered on his mind. He had an uneasy feeling that Takahashi was more than he appeared to be.

* * *

Hitomi shuddered at the glint of anger in her friend's eyes. "She's so nosy! Besides, what was she doing at the tenth division HQ again anyway?" Sei sighed in frustration. "How can I possibly achieve my goals if she's constantly around-" Stopping mid-sentence, she tilted her head slightly as a solution occurred to her. If her problem resided in Hinamori being around too much, then naturally the solution would be to separate the two. Since emotionally was too much to ask for at this point, she guessed a physical separation would have to make do. But how was she going to achieve that? 

_I guess I'll have to pay a visit to my former Captain._ She pushed herself off the wall and headed for the ninth division headquarters.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Watching Sei leave, Takahashi calmly took a sip of his tea. Insolent girl; did she believe that she was of that great an importance to have the audacity to demand help from him. He was beginning to think that involving her in his schemes was not the right move.

Although she did bring up a good point: the separation of the two was a good idea. His purpose, though, was entirely different from hers. If he was able to successfully separate the couple, it would make it easier for him to eliminate Momo, and thus take care of his biggest threat once and for all.

He put his hands on the desk and pushed himself out of the chair. It was time to contact Hueco Mundo.

* * *

"Oi, Matsumoto, finish these papers," Hitsugaya commanded as he held out a small pile of paper from his desk. Matsumoto climbed off the couch and took the papers from her captain. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. What, no complaint? He decided to go with this rare blessing; taking a sip of tea instead of his usual pert comments. 

Matsumoto sighed. How could Ichigo loose his last volume of Naruto? She couldn't as well go to the living world just to scavenge for the last volume; besides, the manga was vintage now so even if she did go back she strongly doubted that she would find it. Damn Kurosaki-taichou. With her lips slightly curled down in a frown, Rangiku took the papers and turned to walk out the door.

Just as she turned, a flutter of black caught her eye and she turned to face it. Her eyes widened in mute surprise as she lifted a finger for the death butterfly to land on. "All captains are called to an emergency meeting commencing immediately." She turned to face her captain, "Emergency meeting?" she repeated.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Yamamoto-Soutaichou's voice echoed throughout the spacious hall. "There has been an alarming report from the special ops group. The shinigami in charge of the spirits in the Karakura district has been killed. The hollow that killed it has been identified as an **ajuukaru**. It's current location is unknown, however, the area must be searched and the ajuukaru eliminated. Since ajuukaru do not require someone of captain class to defeat them, three vice-captains will be sent in their stead. We are here to choose which three vice-captains should be sent. Does anyone wish to volunteer their vice-captain?"

"Wouldn't it be more efficient to also send someone who knows the area well?" Takahashi asked. The commander closed his eyes in thought before opening them. Giving a firm nod, he agreed with the idea. "Very well then, we shall send Kuchiki Rukia with the three vice-captains."

By the end of the meeting, it was decided, despite certain protests, that Matsumoto Rangiku of the tenth division, Hitsugaya Momo of the fifth division, Kotetsu Isane of the fourth division, and Kuchiki Rukia of the thirteenth division were to be sent to the living world for the task. Much of the decision made, to Ichigo's and Hitsugaya's annoyance, was a result of Takahashi's comments.

* * *

"Toushiro, where are you taking me?" Momo asked as she followed Hitsugaya through the shrubs and bushes. Hitsugaya seemed to take the news of her being sent to the living world hard. Even though he retained his usual demeanour of indifference, she knew he was worried about her going. 

"Momo." His distant voice broke through her thoughts, and she realised that she had stopped moving, and that he had already gained a fair few steps ahead of her. Sighing, she pushed a tree branch out of her way and caught up to him in haste.

It was the training centre, and they weren't alone: Ichigo and Rukia were there, though they were, unsurprisingly, arguing.

"I don't need training! If you don't remember, I've being doing this way longer than you have," she reminded him firmly. Ichigo was unmoved.

"I'm not listening to a word you are saying," Ichigo declared loudly and stubbornly; he pointed at Rukia, "from now on, you are going to do everything I tell you to do, Kuchiki Rukia. All your complaints and objections will be dismissed! And right now, we are going to train."

"Like hell we are! I told you, I don't need training!" argued Rukia just as stubbornly, "And what kind of stupid logic is that? You will dismiss my objections? Feh!" Just when Momo thought it was not possible, an even larger vein popped out of Rukia's head when Ichigo started making loud noises to drown out her voice. They abruptly stopped their bickering when they realised that Toushiro and Momo was looking at them.

Ichigo straightened and folded his arms. "See, Momo didn't have to be dragged here to be trained. She's a model citizen." He muttered stubbornly.

"Huh? Trained?" Momo turned to look at Hitsugaya.

"Pft, she didn't even know," Rukia hissed back at Ichigo. His scowl deepened.

* * *

"Don't be too impulsive, Momo. Run if you have to. Don't-" Momo placed a finger on his lips to stop him. 

"I know, Shiro-chan," she assured him, "You told me during training already." Shivering a little, she pulled the blanket up higher and snuggled closer to Hitsugaya. In truth, she was feeling quite nervous about this mission. She was sure that Hitsugaya was aware of it, but voicing it would cause him to be even more concerned. A small smile spread over her lips as she thought of his over-protectiveness over her.

She closed her eyes; the slow rhythmic beat of his heart calming her own wild one down.

And then it occurred to her. With her and Matsumoto out of the way, Sei would have an unblocked path to Hitsugaya. Hmpf, that devious little…girl.

"What's wrong?" Opps, that 'hmpf' must have been said out loud.

"Nothing," she assured lamely. Admitting something would just make her sound jealous and over-protective. She was not jealous, and she was not over-protective.

Feeling the expectant gaze directed at her, she sighed and reluctantly confessed. "With Rangiku-san gone, that would leave Sei as your next personal assistant." Okay, it was more of a statement, but who's evaluating?

Hitsugaya snorted. "Baka, you don't have to worry about that."

Momo's views were unchanged. "I can't help it: she's a worry."

A sudden feeling of dread overwhelmed her: a warning, as if it were, of impending danger. Her clutch on his robes tightened; her breathing became laboured. Then the visions came, perhaps of forgotten memories: she was running for what seemed like an eternity; something was after her; it caught her and broke her hand; she looked up but could not distinguish the face due to the fog, and then she was surrounded by cold, freezing water.

The images slowly disappeared and she was once again faced with the darkness of the night. She breathed deeply and heavily until her surroundings slowly became clear to her. It wasn't until her heat cooled down and she had stopped shaking that she realised that Hitsugaya was staring down at her; concern openly displayed on his face, and mainly in his eyes.

"I'm okay," she reassured him, "I think I was remembering something but…but it made no sense. It was just broken segments. I was running from my room and someone was chasing me. I couldn't see my attacker because of the fog; my wrist was broken. The last thing I remember was being thrown into freezing cold water." She rubbed her temples and looked at Hitsugaya.

So that was it. She was remembering what he and the others had desperately tried to figure out: the last few moments before she had been thrown into the water and lost her memory. He was determined to find out who her attacker was, for her safety, and for him to give the attacker a piece of his mind. "Are you sure you don't remember their face?" His voice, though gentle, did not lack eagerness.

Momo thought earnestly hard before nodding her head.

Lying back down beside her, he brought her closer to him. "How are you feeling now?" Momo yawned; a small smile graced her lips when she felt Hitsugaya's lips against her forehead. "Sleep," his voice was whisper soft but firm. Momo was more than happy to oblige.

"If I don't come back, Shiro-chan, don't go for Sei," she muttered sleepily before drifting off to sleep.

Hitsugaya grunted disapprovingly. "Baka, what do you mean "if I don't come back"?" He sighed at her sleeping form. She looked so peaceful in her sleep. It was as though she didn't have a dangerous mission to accomplish starting the next day. He pushed aside a stray hair.

"Goodnight, bed-wetter Momo." He tightened his grip on her as he mentally prepared himself for the next day.

* * *

**End of Chapter 12

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Again, sorry for the late review. Hadn't had much time. Plus my muse refuses to cooperate. Anway, for people still studying and doing exams: good luck!

Reviews would be great.


	13. Unexpected Meetings

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THIS MARRIED LIFE**

**CHAPTER 13: **Unexpected Meetings

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**Author's Notes: **Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Sorry about the slow update, again. 

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own any part of Bleach, anime or manga. I also do not own any of the other anime mentioned in here: Prince of Tennis and Naruto.

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The sun was at its peak and a drowsy sound of everyday life lay over the large, similar buildings of Seireitai. Excited chatter mixed with unenthusiastic comments and heated complaints echoed throughout the vast halls as shinigamis moved from place to place, carrying out whatever task they were assigned to for the day. Somewhere along their paths, the death gods with low seats would exercise their somewhat meagre power to make sure that other non-seated shinigami around them do not step out of line. In reverse, respectful greetings and bows were presented by all when top level death gods passed through the halls. Then there is the occasional pushing and dodging of shinigami traffic when one or a group of death gods rush down the halls in their hurry to accomplish whatever they had been assigned to. 

Such was a normal day in the Court of Pure Souls.

Today was not a normal day for Hitsugaya Momo, nor was it a normal day for Matsumoto Rangiku, Kotetsu Isane and Kuchiki Rukia. It's ironic is it not, that a person is never truly conscious of familiar surroundings until they have to leave?

Momo let out a sigh of reluctance as she scanned the place one more time. _Momo, get a grip on yourself,_ she scolded inwardly, _it's not like you're not coming back._ She lowered her eyes and let her sight fall from the tall towers of Seireitai to the people standing in front of her. She looked to her right and quickly observed the expressions of seriousness on the faces of Ichigo and Byakuya as her eyes moved to the left before catching Hitsugaya's. Unhidden reluctance and worry shone through his barrier of turquoise ice and she found that she could not look at them so she lowered her eyes further.

A call was sounded out. It was time to leave.

She blinked away her guilt of making him worry and her reluctance to leave him as she looked up once again to meet his gaze. The eye contact broke when Ichigo's voice broke through the heavy silence.

"Be careful," he said firmly to Rukia, his gaze moved to all four of them. "All of you." A smile appeared on his wife's lips.

"Don't worry, we'll never screw up bad enough for any of you to worry about us," Rukia assured smugly in an attempt to lighten the seriousness in the atmosphere. Her attempt was in vain. Ichigo's scowl deepened. "I'm serious."

The surrounding mood plummeted back down in uncomfortable silence. In an attempt to lighten the mood, Momo took a step towards Ichigo and Rukia to say something. Unfortunately, due to her nervousness, she tripped, embarrassingly, over nothing and she shut her eyes to brace the impact with the hard floor. Her hands automatically flew open to catch the nearest thing next to her for support. When the fall didn't happen, Momo slowly opened one eye to peek around. Both eyes shot open when she saw the black shinigami uniform and captain's cloak in front of her.

"Hitsugaya-kun," she blurted out when she looked up to see him looking down at her. He responded with a snort and she could tell that her little embarrassing display reminded him of her clumsiness; she saw his worry and unrest at her going to the living world deepen and a surge of determination ran through her. She was a vice-captain for goodness sake, she can handle this!

"Be more careful, Momo," he told her. A light pink blush coloured Momo's cheeks and Hitsugaya blinked in amusement. She opened her mouth to say something but the caller announced it was time again. Momo, suddenly realizing that she was still holding onto Hitsugaya's arm, reluctantly released her grip and walked towards the Senkai-mon.

Hitsugaya watched with his arms crossed, seemingly unmoved, as his wife and the others faded into the darkness. The large doors of the gateway closed with a soft thud and disappeared until all Hitsugaya and Ichigo were staring at was other buildings of Seireitai. They turned and headed back to their respective divisions.

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The tenth division seemed somewhat quieter without the bustling vice-captain. Instead, in her place on the couch where she often took her naps or read her comic books, was Hirayama Sei. Hitsugaya paused at the unfamiliarity of her being there before walking with indifference to his desk. She stood up and greeted him as he walked past; a small nod was delivered her way to tell her that she has been acknowledged. 

"Is there anything you would like me to do, sir?" She enquired. Her eyes travelled down to the large pile of paper set neatly on his desk. Hitsugaya glanced at the papers and felt a small tug on the corner of his lips. If he assigned a portion of the paperwork to Hirayama, she would have to work in his office due to her position as a third seater; she was neither allowed to sign off papers nor would she know enough information to complete the reports. Consequently, she would have to call upon his assistance all the time. This, he imagined, would not make Momo very happy. There was not a thing in the world that was scarier than when his wife was mad at him. Therefore, deciding that it was much safer to not assign any paperwork to her, he shook his head in response. "No, just carry on with your normal duties," he told her. Besides, he preferred doing the work himself anyway.

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Momo sprung up and tilted Tobiume down to deliver the final blow to the hollow. 

"This place is infested," Matsumoto panted as Momo landed.

"Rangiku, behind you!" yelled Rukia. Matsumoto was already a step ahead of her. She spun around and drove Haineko through the white mask.

"There's no more," Momo announced. Her companions nodded in confirmation and she looked up at the sky. _What's going on? Hollows don't normally gather like this._ She let out a deep breath and sheathed her sword. "There's no sign of the ajuukaru either." _Just what is going on here?_

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"I think we can declare this zone as ajuukaru-free," announced Isane. The sun had set a long while ago and the sky was now a deep blue. They had searched Karakura district all day but had not come across the hollow they had been sent to kill.

Matsumoto stretched her long arms and yawned. The day had been quite tiring after all. Oh well, nothing that can't be fixed after a long night of good sleep. She ran a hand through her long, wavy hair and turned to Rukia. "So, where does Urahara-san live?"

Momo blinked at Matsumoto's question. "Urahara-san's house?" she repeated.

"Yeah," she answered. "We need a place to stay, don't we?" Momo's lips curved down into a frown as she thought about this. "It's a bit impolite, Rangiku-san. Urahara-san isn't expecting us."

Matsumoto made a noise of sulky protest and turned to face Rukia and Isane. "What do you think, you two?" Rukia thought about it for a moment before answering with finality. "We should go to Urahara-san's house." Her companions turned to look at her.

"Since we aren't getting any information from Soul Society about the location of the ajuukaru, it is most probable that the ajuukaru isn't on Soul Society's radar. If we go to Urahara-san's house, we may be able to get more information on the ajuukaru." Rukia explained. A cheerful smile spread across Matsumoto's face as she jumped to agree with Kuchiki. Perhaps she could even have a long, hot bath tonight! Isane smiled at Matsumoto's expression. "That's true. Also, we need to be in our top state if we are going to fight an ajuukaru."

Momo agreed. The points that Rukia and Isane-san made were logical, and the best thing to do right now would be to go to Urahara-san's house. "Okay, it's decided then. Let's go to Urahara-san's house." Hopefully Urahara-san wouldn't mind too much.

The group casually strolled down the concrete paths towards the Urahara Shop and chattered lightly the entire way. Momo couldn't help but notice how different the surroundings were to Soul Society. A smile graced her lips when Rangiku seemingly read her mind and commented on how unsuitable their shinigami uniform was to the modern day surroundings.

They finally reached their destination and Rukia stepped forward to knock on the door. It was gently slid open by a massive, muscular fellow with slim rectangular glasses, finely braided cornrows, and a well-groomed mustache.

"Oh, hello, Tessai-san," Rukia greeted warmly.

"Ah, Kuchiki-san," Tessai greeted, "Urahara-san has been expecting you four. Please come in." Rukia's eyes went wide but it was Momo who voiced her surprise. "He's been expecting us?" she asked.

"Hai," he confirmed. He stepped aside to let them in and the four shinigamis thanked him and walked in the store in confusion and surprise.

There, on his usual spot, sat Urahara Kisuke with a straw hat that made him look like a panda with the shadow it cast over his face. To his side stood Ururu and Jinta, the two had grown a little over the many years though not at the same rate as humans as they were not that. In fact, no one in the Urahara shop could be considered fully 'human'.

It was obvious by the way they were sitting and standing that they had indeed been waiting for them. "Gah! Finally here," exclaimed Urahara, "I was wondering when you guys were going to show up."

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Apparently a shinigami had been sent to Urahara to inform him of the situation when it was clear that Momo's group would be required to stay there until the ajuukaru made an appearance or until they were positive that it had returned to Hueco Mundo.

They followed Urahara to the room prepared for them.

"Has there been anything out of the common since the ajuukaru attacked?" Rangiku asked as they followed Urahara down the dim lit hall.

"Nope," he replied casually. "That's strange," Matsumoto said thoughtfully. She thought back to the hollows they had fought throughout the day. _Did the amount of hollows in the area increase just because we came? _But that's absurd; they were attacked almost as soon as they arrived. It was as if the hollows knew they were coming, or were they drawn to their spiritual energy? Hmm…Even if the hollows had gathered because they were drawn to their spiritual energy, there would have to have been a lot of hollows in the area to start off with. However, according to Urahara, the area had been normal until they arrived, which means that their arrival had been anticipated.

Her thoughts were interrupted when they arrived at their prepared room.

"Tessai," Urahara called. The large man walked in with four bundles of varying size, all were wrapped in cloth. "The shinigami who came here today dropped these off. You'll find your names on one of these bags." With that and a "good night", he left the room to the four death gods.

Momo looked at her own bundle. "Hmm, what's this?" she asked out loud before tugging the cloth bag open. The material gave way to reveal a white fluffy plush rabbit that Momo instantly recognised as the plush toy that Hitsugaya had given her a long, long time ago. She was glad that she had regained enough of her lost memory to remember that event. She had been suffering from nightmares and he had given it to her as a gift with the hopes that it'll provide her with some comfort during those sleepless nights.

A rush of excitement surged through Momo and she squealed in delight as her arms flung around the rabbit she named 'Shiro-chan'.

Matsumoto threw Momo an amused look. It had definitely made life easier when Momo regained most of her memory. The memory she had with Hitsugaya returned first, and then the memory of her time spent with Matsumoto and Rukia. Now she remembered everything except two events: her friendship with Takahashi-taichou and the night she was attacked. Matsumoto turned to look at Rukia and her eyes widened to see her holding Chappy. Sighing, she rummaged through the items her captain had decided to send her and her eyebrows twitched at the lack of two very important items. How could Taichou forget the sake and Naruto mangas? With a less than happy sigh and a pout firmly placed on her lips, she flicked her hair back and continued searching through the rest of the items.

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The next day, the group set out on their search once more. By noon, having encountered neither weak hollows nor ajuukarus, Momo and Isane reluctantly agreed to accompany Rukia and Matsumoto to the nearest manga store. During their visit there, Matsumoto and Rukia broke the condition of 'just looking' and picked up a comic book out of excitement. Unfortunately, a human around them noticed and ran out of the store screaming something about a "haunted bookstore".

Momo skimmed through many comic titles on the shelf at the 'vintage' section. A particular title caught her eye. "Hmm, Prince of Tennis? What's that?" Checking that no one was around, she slid the book off the shelf and flicked through it. She pushed down the guilt of not doing her duty and allowed herself to try and enjoy it. Besides, she could not sense any ajuukarus or hollows near her anyway. On top of that, she liked this Echizen Ryoma character, and also this Fuji Syuusuke; or perhaps she just has a soft spot for prodigies and geniuses.

A cold feeling took over Momo's small body and she turned to look out the window instinctively. The ajuukaru was near; she felt its power before she sensed it. Pushing the book back on the shelf, she called to the other three and they ran out of the door. Feet barely touched roofs as they leapt from one building to another until they arrived at a hill top. Rukia recognised the area as the place where Ichigo had once defeated a Menos and she was relieved by the fact that it was located away from the people.

Her breath stopped when she realised that this was the only relief they will receive. The hollow wasn't an ajuukaru, it was an arrancar, and there were two.

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"I made lunch for you, sir," Hirayama announced as she entered Hitsugaya's office. "I hope it's to your taste." 

Hitsugaya put a piece of sushi in his mouth and chewed slowly as he looked through his report again. His hand reached for the chopsticks to pick another piece up when he realised that Sei was still looking expectantly at him.

"Thanks. It's pretty good," he commented before saying, "You may carry on with your work now." Sei's eyes brightened at the rare compliment. "Is there anything you would like me to do in particular?" she asked happily.

Hitsugaya gestured to a pile of paper on the left side of his desk. "Deliver those papers," he directed. Sei smiled in content. "Yes, sir," she obliged heartily. A slimmer of hope slithered through her as she gathered up the pile of paper and headed towards the door. Just as she did so, a death butterfly flew in through the window and she held out a finger for it to land on.

"There's an emergency captain meeting, sir," she told him. Surprise crossed his face for a split second before his usual indifferent demeanour returned to its usual place.

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"I have just been regrettably informed -" began Yamamoto-Soutaichou. Ichigo and Hitsugaya's eyes widened, _regrettably_!

"– that the group sent to the human world have failed their mission. It appears that Fifth Division Vice-Captain Hitsugaya Momo, Tenth Division Vice-Captain Matsumoto Rangiku, Fourth Division Vice-Captain Kotetsu Isane and Thirteenth Division Kuchiki Rukia were unexpectedly attacked by two Arrancars."

Ukitake, Hitsugaya and Ichigo stepped forward, alarmed. "When did this happen?" Ukitake asked anxiously.

"One day ago. They cannot be traced by Soul Society's radar which, as you all know, means two things: one, their spiritual energy was completely consumed in the fight hence making it impossible for the radars to pick them up."

"The second reason-" Hesitation caused him to pause in his speech, but such was the harsh reality of being commander of the thirteen squads. Hesitation was a luxury he couldn't afford to have.

"-is that they were eliminated by the two Arrancars. However, judging on the information we have gathered so far, it is not yet possible to identify which of these two possibilities is the actual event that occurred."

Thick silence lay over the meeting room out of shock, and out of respect for those who were abruptly forced to face the possibility of loosing someone close to them. Those who were not in shock watched Hitsugaya and Ichigo out of the corner of their eyes, and to a smaller extent, Byakuya and Renji.

Something in Hitsugaya snapped when Yamamoto broke the news out to him. He didn't know what snapped, but the feeling inside him burned him alive. It was worse then that time he had found Momo after she had been stabbed by Aizen. At least that time he was sure that she was still alive, critically hurt, but at least still alive. At least that time he was by her side.

He stood there in dark silence and stared at the floor without actually seeing it. Nails drew blood from his palms due to the sheer force used to contain his inner turmoil.

Yamamoto could watch no further. He cleared his throat to catch the captain's attention. "We can no longer leave this situation to lower rank shinigami. Captain Hitsugaya and Captain Kurosaki, you are hereby assigned to eliminate the two Arrancars. The appearance of Arrancars presents a high threat to the balance of the three worlds. You are to leave as soon as possible."

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**End of Chapter 13

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**Author's Notes** This hasn't been proof read and my excuse is because it's 1:27 am. Hopefully there aren't too many mistakes.

**New Note 16/04/06** Not to be updated for a long time.

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